


Meet Me in the Middle

by MsMK



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Can be male if it please them and may switch for long periods of time, Eventual other AUs, F/M, Female Protagonist, Female Reader, For the most part, Isolation, Kitsune, Multi, Multiverse Shenanigans, Polyamory, Reader Is A Shapeshifter, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader has a Description, Romance, Slow Burn, Takes place in the void, Touch-Starved, reader is a monster
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2019-10-02 10:32:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17262659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsMK/pseuds/MsMK
Summary: You've been banished to the void for crimes against your nature for the last 499 years, and you thought for sure you were destined to be alone forever.So you adjusted--you missed the world and humanity, but living at the crux of every universe isn't so bad. You've grown accustomed to loneliness, and found that it isn't so hard to forget about companionship.But then, just when you were growing comfortable, an energetic skeleton monster shows up in your prison by complete accident, and even worse than not knowing how to talk to him is that you don't even speak his language!His arrival brings confusion, misunderstanding, and a definite need for compromise.





	1. 499 Years a Loner

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, all! Happy New Year!  
> This is a backstory for my [Menagerie ask blog](https://mks-magical-menagerie.tumblr.com/), or more of a companion piece to it. I had a lot of headcanons and it has always been interesting to me to write things out once they get to a certain point, so here is my latest project!  
> Within this story you will find: awkward moments, adorable moments, steamy affairs, multiverse shenanigans, miscommunications, a sprinkle of angst, romance, and more! I hope you will come to enjoy the story of MK and her menagerie of skeletal lovers, and how they taught her passion all over again.
> 
> A note--I do not speak Japanese beyond the basics I'm learning on Duolingo, nor am I an expert in Japanese history or mythology. I have researched Kitsunes fairly extensively, but that's about it, lol. If you see a historical inconsistency that cannot be explained away by magic or something, let me know so I can possibly fix it! Gratuitous use of google and google translate are being used to create this.
> 
> English words spoken will be in regular font, and _Japanese will be in Italics._ I am not even gonna try to write it any other way lol.

**_There were few things in the world that could strip a fully-realized kitsune of all her godly powers. Your silvery tails followed you like starlight in the night, and you were unstoppable, for a time--_ **   
**_But you were also foolish. And sentimental. And that starlight you had grown so proud of, they banded together and they took it away from you._ **   
**_They flung you into the darkness when you refused to leave the mortal realms._ **   
**_Your passion for life became your greatest downfall…_ **   
**_...and in the end, your most wonderful blessing._ **

* * *

For the first few decades, you tried to make it look like home. Paper sliders, tatami mats. You slept and woke as if days mattered, and you looked out windows as if there would be anything other than blackness to see.

It wasn't long before you realized it didn't matter. You donned your many layers less and less, until you only wore the biggest outer layer of your kimono tied with rope, your bare feet sliding soundlessly against cold marble.

You missed the feeling of the grass between your toes less as the years went by. You missed the sound of laughter less. Your heart grew cold as the marble beneath your feet, and the home humbled itself to two rooms as you needed them.

You never slept. What's the point? The only thing you do is watch the magic flow around you and wonder if anyone is alive to remember you.

You checked once. You had that heartache for 30 years.

It was numb after one hundred years. Painless after two. You didn't even remember the sound of your own voice after 3, nor your favorite color.

Your robes were as gray as your tails, drab and bland and boring. You don't remember what you gave up your power for, but you know you aren't going to crawl back to them and beg for it back...you're here, and this is what you are always to do.

Watch over the timelines from the dark. Alone.

...at 400 years you acquired...a companion. He slobbered a lot and had three eyes and a habit of melting if he sat still too long. He looked a bit like a smushed wolf...he amused you. You named him Cedric. You don't know where he came from and he doesn't speak, but that's alright.

You felt a twinge of something sometimes when you watched him turn circles in the grass. Wait...had you always had this yard? And sunlight? It hurt your eyes...you have no idea how many years you've stood here watching him eat rocks and roll in the grass.

Your hands touched the grass gently, for the first time in centuries, and...you may have smiled. Your cheeks hurt at least.

You gained another hallway one day, and in it a creature that was a liquid when idle. He called himself Oobleck, at least you think that's what it said, and you supposed it made as much sense as anything else around here. You fed him crushed corn flour and water. He seemed content. Every now and then you tried to touch him, only to find him hard as marble...unless you left your hand there, and he melted over you. A queer creature, at best. But yours.

The massive clock in the main room changed as clocks did in the main timeline--once a sundial, then a grandfather clock, then a cat with moving eyes and tail, and now just a big sign with numbers.

You ignored the crystal beneath it that begged you to search it, begged you to look into the world. Funny how once you would have pored over it feverishly, desperate to maintain a connection with the world you loved so dearly...but now, you only drew your kimono closer and looked away.

You couldn't care less what  _ they  _ want you to do.

...there's a crack in the crystal now. Maybe...maybe you should check it this once.

You became immersed in the life of a small child, hundreds of timelines at once showing you the way they rescued monsters like yourself. You couldn't see anything but them, and you watched for what felt like an eternity…

...the big clock says only 3 years. 

You let your mind wander and search the worlds.

Things were new, and exciting. You saw gardens like the ones you used to know, and then some, flowers with more petals than you'd ever seen and trees with wood as red as dried blood. You avoided the people, but you saw their stone buildings, their strange rocks that did so many things--sound that travelled across the provinces, images that traveled over countries.

You tried some of the things. The space you occupied knew what you wanted to an extent--a large screen that replayed your favorite shadow puppet productions took up one wall. You even got to watch Japanese art flourish, seeing Kabuki performances for the first time in your life. Operas, plays, and western music finagled it's way into the small building, and though it fizzled after a few years, your passion for gardening did not.

It's better than sitting around inside anyhow.

* * *

Cedric had melted onto your tatami mat again, and scraping him off was always such a pain. You sighed and tapped his goopy head, and he perked up to begin running circles around you.

You clasped your robes loosely as you led him through the halls, and the moment you opened the door to the garden-in-progress, he zoomed past you to tear up the grass. A lazy wave of your hand fixed the patches he destroyed, and once he found where he buried his squeaky toy, he settled in the stinging nettle bush to squeak it.

You ignored him, a small smirk making its way to your face. Nearly 500 years in and things are already starting to feel alright...and to spite the Powers that put you here, you're still in your human form, even without much of your magic.

Not too shabby.

Now, should you work on the peace lilies? You saw something interesting from a modern glance the other day, or was it last year? Something about sweet peas?

As you thought it, you opened the little wooden box and found sweet pea seeds, ready to plant. You reminded yourself to check on the orchard today, and maybe spend some time in the shade.

****

_ You giggled as he waved to you from his end of the field, tilling diligently as you went from your end to his dropping seeds in. In a few months these would be a bountiful harvest, and you could go to the market with him and sell what wasn't levied or eaten. With a little twitch of your tails beneath your robes, they were guaranteed to grow well. _

****

You sighed and shook off the memory. That was many centuries ago, now...no sense in remembering it now.

It wasn't like you'd ever meet anyone like him again. Or anyone at all.

“ EXCUSE ME ?”

The hairs on your neck bristled and you turned swiftly, claws extending even in your shock.

The intruder seemed just as baffled as you were, jumping back at your sudden jump and holding up his gloved hands. His clothes were strange, a mix of some modern t-shirt and what looked like crude armor, long pants much too tight to be practical in battle and boots that were sleek and polished. Everything was blue and silver and white--

Even his body, pristine white bones and dark sockets with flickering magic that somehow managed to look...concerned.

He was speaking again, a low, yet upbeat tone...but you didn't understand a word of it. You recognized the language as English, at least, like those Western songs and cowboy movies that would sometimes play on the screen inside. You never thought you'd need to learn it.

You opened your mouth with the intention of stopping him and saying something, but the panic of talking to another person for the first time in nearly 500 years hit you suddenly, like a ton of bricks, and all that came out…

...was a high pitched shriek, accompanied by a jolt of protective magic that tore the ground between you and knocked him off his feet, giving you just enough time to bolt inside, calling for Cedric and tossing him inside with you.

And then you locked the door.

* * *

“PAPY, I'M AT ALPHYS’ AFTER DUTY TODAY! I'LL BE HOME BY NIGHT CYCLE!”

Sans waited a moment for acknowledgement, and then watched as Papyrus waved lazily at him from where he was playing on his Switch. Ever since they reached the surface, it seemed like he was either catching up on video games, working in his workshop, or sleeping.

Sans gasped and stopped in his tracks, skidding across the snow. Undyne's cookie plate! He almost forgot! It was just past the New Year and if he didn't return her Gyftmas plate soon, he'd look lazy!

He turned and booked it back to the house, sliding down around the side to Papyrus’ workshop. He remembers he gave the rest of the cookies to him after eating his fill, so it's likely they were in there.

“HELLO, G!” He greeted, and there was a thump and a curse before the rolling cart rolled out from beneath Papyrus’ machine, revealing a tall version of himself covered in motor oil. It must be his turn to work on the machine right now.

“Hey, Blueberry,” G sighed, sitting up and cracking his back with a groan. “What brings y'down here? Beanpole done playing Stardew Valley?”

“ _ PAPY _ IS STILL PLAYING. I JUST NEED DYNE'S COOKIE PLATE!”

G jerked a thumb in the direction of the work bench, and sure enough, it was there, covered in crumbs.

“Hey, before you skitter off, could y'gimme a hand here? I think I figured out how to get this thing jumpin’.” G patted the metal hunk of junk, and Sans nodded, moving to follow directions. “Hold here, and this and this, while I tie these wires. Don't drop that.”

“THE MAGNIFICENT SANS NEVER DROPS ANYTHING!” Sans preened, puffing up.

“Yeah, bring it down. You'll probably have t'use a nickname if this thing gets working, be too confusing with 20 Sanses in the room.”

“BUT I'M SANS! SHOULDN'T THEY HAVE TO CHANGE?”

G chuckled. “Cute. Real cute. Y'ain't the original, Einstein--this is an alternate timeline. If it makes you feel better, I'm not the original either.”

Blue huffed. “HOW CAN YOU EVEN TELL? HOW DO YOU KNOW I'M NOT THE ORIGINAL AND THE OTHER IS THE ALTERNATE?”

“Man, you really don't get this multiverse stuff,” G sighs, shaking his head as he sparks two wires together. “That right there is proof incarnate that you're an outlier, an anomaly. Almost every Sans is the science bro. 'Cept you and...the nastier version of you I met once.”

“I GET IT!” Sans insisted weakly, fumbling with the hook he'd been handed.

“Focus, then,” G said sternly. “Alright, connect this to these, that to that…aaaaaand...button time.”

He pressed the button, and more a moment it did nothing. His brow knit in frustration, and Sans shifted his weight--

“Man, nothing again,” G sighed, shaking his head as the hooks and wires fell down. “Sorry for wasting your time, let me get that plate for...you…”

G looked around, his cherrier double completely absent...and groaned when he noticed two scorched handprints in the sides of the machine.

* * *

Something wet slapped against his face, followed by a strange clicking and whirring noise, and Sans groaned, rolling over. He could feel grass against his exposed bones, and the fragrant scent of flowers filled the air. Sunlight fell upon his face as he cracked his sockets open, only to be licked once more by a…

...okay, he supposed it could loosely be considered a dog. Is this one of Undyne's amalgamates? If so, then why is it...wherever he is?

He sat up slowly as the strange goop-dog wagged it's slime and hopped about, begging for playtime. High in the sky it appeared there were the edges of windows, though that was impossible...right? In any case it looked dark as night through these window panes from what he could see.

“A GARDEN?” He asked out loud, to nobody but himself. The garden was large and well-maintained, with recognizable plants like lilies and roses as well as strangely shaped alien-esque ones, or older plants he thought extinct. He wasn't an expert on gardening but his brother's close friend, the former King, had a very green thumb and he had never seen some of these even in  _ his _ garden.

A strange bell noise caught his attention, and the odd dog dropped a blobby squeaky toy at his feet, cocking it's slightly melting head to one side as if waiting. He leaned down to give him a pat, and found a rope with a metal plate on it--a name tag. It was in Japanese, but helpfully etched in English below that.

_ Cedric _

“CEDRIC, HUH? WELL, WHERE THERE'S A NAME, THERE'S AN OWNER. MAYBE THEY CAN EXPLAIN THE STRANGE WINDOWS FLOATING IN THE SKY.”

He trudged through the garden, getting lost at every turn and trying to figure out how he got here. G was right--he really didn't understand all this multiverse stuff.

He watched Cedric bound across the grass and run circles in the grass. Where he tore through to the dirt, it healed itself over instantly. Beyond that, a figure was bent over a budding garden bed--long auburn tresses and flowing robes obscured them, but delicate hands sowed seeds easily, and where they took root they budded instantly, vining upward. It was mesmerizing to watch, but he could watch later.

“EXCUSE ME?”

The figure flinched and jumped, skidding a jagged crescent across the garden bed, robes flying as they turned in shock.

A woman--your robe scarcely hanging on even as grand as it was, and Sans felt his face burn in hesitant embarrassment as you took a defensive stance, eyes dilating strangely. You were almost catlike in your movement.

He looked you square in the eyes instead of your...generous cleavage...and held up his hands in a placating manner.

“I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO STARTLE YOU! PLEASE, I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU, I JUST DON'T KNOW HOW I GOT HERE--”

Your eyes darted over him, catching almost every tiny movement, assessing. You cocked your head slightly, clearly not understanding him at all.

Judging from your robes, he guessed you might, if anything, speak Japanese--you dressed similarly to the anime characters in Undyne's favorite period dramas, except without all the extra layers.

“...AND YOU PROBABLY CAN'T UNDERSTAND ME. I'M SORRY. UHHH…” He wracked his brain for any of the simple phrases Undyne had taught him, but he doesn't think ‘I'm so cute, yeah?’ would likely help in this situation.

You opened your mouth, and he leaned in to see if you would speak something he could understand--

\--and shrieked and fell flat on his coccyx as you bellowed a hoarse scream, magic ripping upward from the ground to upheave him as you called Cedric's name.

The last he saw through his confusion was you snatching the dog and fleeing into a set of ornate double doors.

“NO--AH! WAIT!” He pleaded, scrambling to his feet and taking off after you.

The doors slammed shut, and he skidded to a halt in front of them, hearing several heavy locks slam into place next.

Locked out. Not that he blamed you, of course, but it certainly doesn't help him at all.

“Well,” he sighed. “At least it can't get any wor--”

The sun disappeared, thunder cracked, and the rain dumped upon the garden without warning, as if responding to your fragile state and Sans' remark, and Sans squeaked and pressed himself against the door, finding a small two-foot cover from the overhang. Just as he forlornly wished it were bigger, it seemed to expand before his very eyes, creating a porch big enough for him to fit comfortably in.

“What an odd place,” he mused to himself. He leaned his head back against the door and he could still hear your panicked breathing on the other side.

...and what an odd mistress.

 


	2. The Language Barrier (And Also the Door)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and your new guest try to understand each other, but even with Google translate there's so much you both don't understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping to keep a buffer of 2-3 chapters in my documents so I can change things if needed, so this is the last update for the debut.  
> MK and her skelelovers are taking questions over at the ask blog in the final notes! Oh, and Truth or Strip is still on, in case you wanted to embarrass them into stripping!

The rain patterned down on the pavement and grass outside, and though it would normally calm you, nothing could stop your frantic pacing.

There's someone outside your door.

There's someone. Outside. Your door.

You live in the void! How could he even get here? How is this even possible? Was this the universes’ way of making fun of you, having just finally adjusted to a life of solitude?

Heard you were enjoying nothingness, here's some forced social interaction just to make you uncomfortable!

You haven't spoken to anyone in nearly 500 years. 500.  _ Years. _ 5 whole centuries. Years used to feel like hours or days but now every second that he sat outside your door was a torturous one, and you were experiencing everything in real time for the first time in who-even-knows-how-long.

You paused your pacing. Is it rude to leave him out there? Times have changed. Back in the day of course any traveler would be allowed to rest their feet in your home. But this isn't the 1500's in Japan anymore, this is...wherever you are in the modern age!

Focus! You sighed and rubbed your face, and a mirror blocked your path. You glared at it, knowing that the house was manifesting your own worries.

You looked...fine. Really. Okay, so maybe your robe was open--easy fix.

You tightened your robe, obscuring your chest a bit more. Who knows what counts as modest these days but you looked good by your own standards.

...sort of.

You scoffed and dismissed the mirror, returning to your pacing. You could hear him talking through the door, but you still didn't understand him. The charms you used to be able to use to translate needed more power than you could muster on your own.

A knock got your attention, and an insistent, repeated plea in broken Japanese.

_ “LISTEN, TRANSLATE!” _ He was saying as you drew closer to the door. Your fox ears twitched and you pressed one to the door, and a strange voice spoke to you, not the intruder's but not one you recognized either--a smooth voice that didn't know how to pronounce things.

_ “Sorry, I am scared you. I do not know how I come here.” _

_ “Your Japanese is terrible and lazy,” _ you scoffed.

You listened a moment, before he exclaimed something and you heard Cedric's name. In a panic you looked around and noticed the house had manifested a small flap for the pup, and with a huff you cracked the door open.

Your intruder squeaked as he tumbled back through the door, landing at your feet with Cedric on his chest. You planted your hands on your hips.

_ “Come in, I suppose.” _

Sans dusted himself off and followed what he assumed was an invitation, the doors swinging closed behind him as he followed your mysterious form into the foyer. 

He hadn't known what to expect from the outside, but it definitely looked...interesting. It was bare but for a few decorations, with sliding paper doors and ambient light with no identifiable source.

You said something and gestured to a small table with mats instead of chairs, and he assumed you meant for him to sit. You moved swiftly away when he grew near, but watched him curiously.

_ “Oni?” _ you asked, amethyst eyes glancing over at the dark windows suspiciously. You said something else but he didn't catch it.

Oni…? Didn't that mean...brother or something? He vaguely remembered something about brother or maybe sister being “onee-chan” from what little of Undyne's anime he watched.

“OH, NO, MY BROTHER IS STILL AT HOME,” he said, before realizing you didn't understand a word he said.

He pulled out his phone and you jumped, so he held it up so you could see.

“JUST MY PHONE,” he explained, tapping the google translate app. He repeated the phrase and it spat out something that at least sounded Japanese--not that there was any way for him to tell if it was correct.

Your attention snapped to the device, pupils blowing wide as it spoke to you.

_ “Oni?” _ You asked, and the phone helpfully translated--

**Demon** .

He chuckled. 

“OH, NO, NOT A DEMON. OH--” He repeats into the phone, and your expression twists into confusion. He tapped the screen. “PHONE.”

The phone repeats, but you shake your head as if you don't recognize the word in either language. Oh boy. He wished Papyrus was here, he actually speaks Japanese. Undyne had made him learn so they could watch the things that didn't have subtitles together.

“Fono.” You said definitively.

He brightened, smiling and nodding. “YES! PHONE!”

He held it out to you and you huffed and withdrew, suspicious eyes roving over him once more. You pointed at him and repeated, loudly.  _ “Oni?” _

“OH, YOU MEAN ME?” He asked. “NO! NOT A DEMON!”

He shook his head and paused. Were oni, demons, and monsters the same thing in Japanese culture? Gosh, he has no idea.

_ “Youkai?” _

Okay, what the heck is a Youkai? “UHM. MAYBE?”

He typed the question into the translator.

“GHOST, PHANTOM...APPARITION OR MONSTER. HUH.” He looked up at you and pointed to himself.  _ “YOUKAI.” _

Understanding crossed your face and you said something else, gesturing to your face and body.

**“All Bones** **.”** Google helpfully supplied.

“OH, YEAH! SKELETON!” He said, removing his gloves and wiggling his phalanges. “SEE? SKELETON.”

_ “Sukeruton.” _ You repeated.

Hm. Close enough. He assumed him repeating your words sounded just as bad. He tapped his phone.

“I NEED TO GET HOME. WHERE ARE WE?”

The phone translated, and you gracefully descended across from him to sit at the table, your robes flowing around you.

_ “Yomi no kuni,”  _ you said slowly, watching with fascination as the kanji scrawled across the screen.

**“Realm of the dead.”** His phone said calmly.

…huh.

Wait, WHAT?

“Realm of the Dead?” He squeaked. “I'm  _ dead _ ?!”

There was a pause as he was translated, and you chuckled, shaking your head. You answered him faster, and the phone struggled to keep up.

**“You are not dead. That is only one translation. This is the world of darkness among the worlds.”**

“OH. THE VOID.” He nodded, remembering G saying something like that. That explained the strange windows in the garden at least.

_ “Boido, hai,” _ you said, nodding. You covered your mouth with your sleeve and narrowed your eyes at him, and he smiled wryly at you.

This was exhausting, but it was a start.

You pointed at him.  _ “Baka.” _

**“** **Stupid.”** His phone chimed.

“WHAAAT?” He huffed, feeling his face flush. “HOW RUDE!”

**“Only idiots got lost in the gap without knowing the way they got there. You must not be so bright.”** You teased with a giggle, the phone working it's magic to the side.  **“Tell me, strange youkai, will you get lost often? Is there a name tag somewhere?”**

“GOODNESS, YOU'RE NOT THE NICEST VOID-DWELLER I'VE MET, NOW ARE YOU,” he said, kneeling and leaning toward you, and you huffed and turned away.

_ “ _ **I did not come without a notice to your house without even offering a melon.”** You sniffed.  **“Are you a warrior? Samurai? Still, are there no manners when visiting someone?”**

He paused, sitting back down slowly. He supposed he was pretty sudden in his appearance, and rather rude about demanding answers. It appears you live by yourself, and it doesn't seem like you know what his phone is. Also, Google translate is telling him that your Japanese is very formal and old-fashioned--just how long have you been in the void?

**“And with this strange thing, even with this you talk like a Westerner. Japanese is not good. Rude and informal.”** You said, tapping the table next to his phone.  **“What is this? Magic? Yokai?”**

“NO, TECHNOLOGY. BUILT BY HUMANS AND MONSTERS AND SCIENCE.”

You nodded, having recognized a few of those words.

**“Have the great old ones sent you? I will not give in to their wishes or apologize for my actions. I will not bow besides myself.”** You said sternly, eyeing the phone as it translated.

“NO, I JUST ENDED UP HERE. I WAS HELPING ANOTHER VERSION OF ME WITH THE MACHINE TO GO BETWEEN WORLDS, AND SOMETHING WENT WRONG. DO YOU KNOW HOW I CAN GET BACK?”

The translation must have made no sense, because you made a face for the first part, and then for the question you shook your head.

**“There is no way to leave the darkness. Why else am I here? They did not give me the door to the exit.”** You raised a brow at him.  **“You have not given your name, rude child. And do you want to leave already?”**

There was a chime, and he looked down right as the screen went black on his phone.

“NO!” He groaned. What a time to lose battery! He looked at you, who looked back at him with a raised brow and an air of confusion and apathy.

You asked him something, and when his phone didn't translate, you cocked your head at it.

“IT'S DEAD,” he sighed, holding it out for you to inspect. “SO MUCH FOR UNDERSTANDING EACH OTHER.”

You shook your head and got up, and before he could even stop you you had disappeared into the next room.

“WAIT!” He cried, hopping up and following you. You whirled around and hissed something, pointing to his boots, and he skidded to a halt and looked down at them.

Frustrated, you pointed to them again and stomped your foot, repeating yourself.

“OH, MY BOOTS? YOU WANT ME TO TAKE THEM OFF?”

You rolled your eyes as he hopped to remove one, then the other, and by the time he had arranged them by the door you were already returning to the table with a tray. 

You set the tray down with a rattle and gestured to it. It had rice, miso soup, and some sashimi that looked like tuna or whitefin, and Sans was reminded that he hadn't eaten since breakfast.

“FOR ME? REALLY? THANK Y--” When he looked up to smile at you, you had disappeared, leaving him to an empty room as the door on the far side slid closed swiftly. “...Thank you…”

He turned back to the tray, looking around the room curiously. Even as he watched, every time he turned there was something different, and at the center of it, a large clock that counted years, days, hours, minutes…

At the moment it read  _ 499 years, 25 days, 10 hours and 2 minutes. _ The longer he looked at it, the more slowly it seemed to move, and when he turned back to his food, he found Cedric with his paws on the table, sniffing at it. Before he could admonish the dog...thing...Cedric ran off to enjoy a pile of rocks that he had been sure wasn't by his boots a moment ago. The false sun outside the windows appeared to be mimicking sunset, even though there was likely very little concept of time here.

“WHAT A STRANGE PLACE,” He mumbled to himself for the second time, using the provided chopsticks to clumsily poke at his food. He noticed a fork from the corner of his eye, and a bottle of coke the next, and his brow knit even further in confusion.

A very strange place. Maybe he'd have some answers in the morning.

* * *

You didn't usually sleep, but even for you, you didn't sleep well.

You basically shined your floors with your _tabi_  from pacing, wondering and researching about your strange guest.

He seemed a rude child, but judging from his attire he likely is from the most recent century--not that that excuses him but it explains why his strange box sounds so informal when it talks. It could be that for his time he is perfectly polite.

You turned to the crystal, which had manifested in your room when you had stormed out. You really wished you had taken the time to figure out how it worked, because your attempts to pinpoint where exactly he had come from had proven mostly futile. All it did was show you landscapes, mostly, and occasionally a city or two.

_ “Show me where the youkai came from,” _ you demanded once again.

Cheekily, the crystal's vision manifested as the overgrown shrine near your old domain, and you growled with frustration.

_ “The new one!” _ You insisted, shaking it with a somewhat satisfying tinkling noise.  _ “Show me the new one!” _

An image of your dining room appeared, with the skeleton sitting at the table, surrounded by books you had never seen before and a small, glittering blue tongue pressed between his teeth as he studied something with concentration.

You narrowed your eyes at the crystal.  _ “Very funny. Something I cannot see by sticking my head out the doors!” _

An image appeared, projecting to the wall. It flicked between pictures: a cavern underground, a snowy village, a house with strange colored lights. Then sunshine and grass, then more snow, a similar house yet bigger and with humans milling about. Another skeleton pacing frantically, this one lanky and tall as opposed to your guest's small, stocky stature. His clothes were even stranger than your guest, with no armor to speak of and one solid orange coat that pulls over the head. He was smoking a tiny cigarette, smaller than any pipe you'd seen, using one to light the next, and if skeletons could look tired he definitely did.

He was arguing with one more skeleton, a short round skull and yet taller still than your guest.

Well, it looked rather modern, or what you know the modern world to look like. It's somewhat recognizable as a human village, if only for the humans about.

You tapped the image of the skeleton in orange and simple information displayed.

 

**_Papyrus Aster_ **

**_Monster, 23 years old_ **

 

A child indeed. Of age, but so  _ young _ for a monster. 

You tapped the other skeleton...but all that displayed was:

 

**_Sans (???)_ **

 

You hummed and focused instead on the energy around you, raising your hand to trace the leylines in the air. One of them has to lead to this timeline, or else the strange monster in your home never could have come here. It's trivial to find the right one, and soon you're drawn through the images to the basement, where a rundown metal monstrosity rusted in the corner. The energy flowing from the thing was so chaotic that you were almost impressed.

You sighed and dismissed the crystal. That explained a lot, actually. You could probably make a similar return mechanism, given time, but how much time? And it wouldn't do to not understand your guest for however long you had him, so you needed a way to translate.

If only you had enough magic to use your charms.

* * *

Papyrus was on his sixth cigarette and his last nerve, staring holes into the bucket of junk as G tightened a few bolts.

Sans wasn't in any of the adjacent universes from what they could see. Small amounts of communication were possible through G's special phone, and neither the main timeline or the Fell one had seen him. They had even checked so far as the Fell version of their world, but it was still a no. As much as he distrusted the Fell-verses, he does know himself, and he knows that Papyrus doesn't lie, in any form.

So the search somewhat continues, with much pacing from him and silent work from G.

“what if he got stuck between timelines?” He squeaked, sockets blowing wide. G stiffened, and Papyrus groaned. “that could happen, right? would he just be floating, or...would it…”

...would it splice him?

He quickly took another drag to shut himself up and calm his nerves.

“Your bro is fine, quit stressin’ out,” G reassured him, his smile tight and unconvincing. “Thought you were the calm Papyrus?”

“i am calm,” Papyrus sighed. “trust me, this is as calm that it's sane to be at the moment.”

“S'only been one night, what could be so bad? Worst case scenario he's in a place I ain't found yet, but your brother is fully capable of protecting himself.”

Papyrus didn't answer, just took another drag, thinking of his brother's low HP and worrying just a little bit harder.

* * *

You peeked out your door, and, seeing the coast was clear, slipped out towards your kitchen. You don't know where your charge was nor did you particularly care--right now you were only concerned with getting Oobleck his morning dish.

You could worry about all that social interaction later.

You stared at the new protrusion in your food prep area--a sleek metal tube that you recognized from movies as a running water sink. You had never thought you would need such a modern thing, but your guest must be changing the house a tiny bit as Cedric and Oobleck did when they arrived. You turned it on curiously, and it was easier than you anticipated.

Well. Not all change is bad. Mortals had always been innovative.

You practiced a simple English greeting as you fixed the bowl with water and corn flour, kneading the goopy mess.

“Good morning,” you enunciated slowly. “Good morning, good morning, good morni--”

“GOOD MORNING TO YOU, TOO!”

You yelped and dropped the bowl, splattering corn goop all over your robe, neck, and hands.

Your guest made a surprised noise and leaned over to turn on the sink, bracing himself with a hand on your shoulder, which was slightly exposed from your loose robe.

Heat seared from the touch outward, and your body reacted nearly violently from the contact and close quarters, centuries-ignored needs blossoming in one tiny moment. It had been... _ so _ long since you had been touched--your magic sprang up in response, flourishing for the brief moment and reminding you of how you could feel--

You panicked.

“ACK!” He reeled back with a sputtering breath as your palm struck his sternum, and you took the moment to recoil defensively and pull your robe back up over your shoulders, glaring at him warily.

Sans looked up at you with confusion, wondering what exactly he did to deserve getting Falcon-punched in the chest, but before he could even process how he might ask you, he paused, taking in your appearance.

A ruby-red glow had settled on your cheeks as you hastily pulled your robes tight, and what wasn't obscured by whatever you had been making was flushed as well. You even avoided his eyelights when he tried to CHECK you, but even so, he managed.

 

**_Kitsune, female, age 1499_ **

**_Name: unknown_ **

**_LoVe: unknown_ **

**_ATK: ???_ **

**_DEF: ???_ **

 

Well, that wasn't exactly helpful. That age, was that a typo? He'd never seen a numerical age that high--Even the queen only said 'Older than the barrier’. He'd hoped you at least had a name, but it appears that you aren't quite the same as any creature he'd met. He couldn't even find your SOUL inside you, or at least he couldn't see it without help. You're either incredibly closed off, or else--

Oh, wait, there's something else.

 

**_Status: [Kitsune Female] seems reluctantly amorous. May respond with disproportionate anger._ **

 

...Oh boy.

He yelped and ducked as a cutting board flew past him, and you shouted something at him that he actually recognized.

“I'M NOT A PERVERT!” He promised. He pulled out his phone, which he'd found miraculously charged when he'd woken. “PLEASE, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, CAN WE JUST SIT DOWN WITH MY PHONE AND TALK THIS OUT?”

You huffed and grabbed what was left of the lumpy concoction, turning on your heel to storm out of the room, leaving Sans with a mess in the sink and the awful feeling of having made zero progress.

He sighed and turned to clean up the sink, finding his usual conveniences miraculously there. He wondered if his inadvertent modernization of your...sentient living space...was a source of dismay for you. It can be shocking to be pulled into an entirely different world--he'd seen the effects of his world on Edge and Red when they had ended up living with them accidentally for a few months. Hence G and his fixation on their version of the machine versus anyone else's--it's the only one besides G's own power that has ever pulled anyone through to another world.

“UHM. HOUSE?” He asked, suddenly coming to an idea. “YOU CHANGE PER MY NEEDS, RIGHT? I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU COULD SEND ME HOME?”

Silence. 

“OKAY...MAYBE YOU COULD MAKE SOME SORT OF TRANSLATOR THAT'S BETTER THAN MY PHONE? OR TEACH ME JAPANESE?”

More silence.

He groaned. Of course it didn't work that way.

He shook the excess water off his hands and pulled his gloves back on, wondering how he could get this place to work the way he wanted. If he was to be living here, there were a few things he'd definitely need, starting with a surefire way to befriend you.

He would need a stove, and taco stuff. Oh, and glitter...maybe a fridge?

He turned around and nearly ran into the new counter that had appeared behind him, an island boasting a built in fridge and a stove.

He feels bad for changing up your house--but as long as he was stuck here, he can't abide not getting along with his host or not pulling his weight.

Time for his secret weapon--friendship tacos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now we see the Kitsune has some serious touch-starvation. It's been nearly 500 years, dammit!  
> If only they could at least understand each other. Oof.


	3. Lost in Translation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Round 2: Terrible tacos and even worse translations and misunderstandings.
> 
> Alternate Title: False Propositions and the Reasons to Consider Them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this story so far! It makes me hapoy to see people are interested in what is probably my most self-indulgent story yet lol

In all your years here, you had never set anything on fire while cooking.

Within 25 minutes of leaving your guest alone, you were racing back into a firey nightmare, hands glowing as your magic smothered the flames, leaving only a sheepish, soot-covered skeleton in its wake.

You gestured to the carnage, and he smiled wryly at you, and not for the first time you found yourself exasperated by the inability to understand each other.

You grumbled to yourself, still more talking than you had done in ages, and walked around healing the house until it no longer bore the hallmarks of a kitchen fire, and when the pots floated back to their places, you found yourself faced with a plate of...something.

“SANS.”

You looked at him curiously, and he patted his chest.

Oh, his name. It must be Sans. Just like that other one with no information you saw.

“Sans?” You asked, waving a little illusion into existence of the other Sans you had seen.

His sockets grew wide and he gasped.

“G!” He said, jabbing a finger at the image. He seemed to pause and consider something, and he pointed at the image and himself. “SANS AND SANS. G--” He pointed at the image. Then himself again. “...BLUEBERRY.”

Ah. Multiverse shenanigans, and nicknames.

“Blue,” you repeated, pointing at him.

He shrugged. “YEAH, OKAY.”

...a name is a start, you guess. He held his plate out to you and raised a brow, smiling wide.

...you have no clue what this is supposed to be, but of course you should never refuse food made for you. You graciously took the plate with a bow and a thank you, and he followed you out to the table where you set the plate down and politely folded your legs underneath yourself.

He put his device (phone?) on the table and fiddled with it while you looked at the food on the plate.

It had some sort of hard shell, and what you assumed was meat. There wasn't any rice, but it...shined a bit. Somehow.

**“It is called tacos.”** The device provided helpfully in response to his words.

You nodded and stared at it a little bit more, wondering how you were supposed to approach it. He mimicked picking it up, so you assumed it was meant to be eaten with your hands.

You clapped twice as he watched curiously.  _ “I humbly receive this food.” _

And with that, you were picking it up and taking a bite.

Blue watched you as you tried the taco, crunching through the shell and meat, face expressing very little other than mild amusement. You ate the whole thing, to his surprise--even his brother could only get through half before he made it disappear with a shortcut. Maybe he was getting better at cooking?

You smiled wryly at him, and he realized that likely wasn't the case--you're just polite.

**“Your intention is clear about this food. Thank you very much. It was delicious.”**

He can't help but think that your voice is so much nicer than the phone's.

“IT WASN'T THE BEST, YOU CAN TELL ME THE TRUTH,” he chuckled. “BUT I'M GLAD MY POINT CAME ACROSS.”

**“Can you translate your phone again?”**

He frowned. That didn't sound quite right, but he figured you were pointing out that the phone works again.

“UH, YEAH, SOMEHOW IT CHARGED OVERNIGHT.”

You sighed and shook your head.  **“This will not work. I can only imagine that the translation is as bad on your part.”**

He chuckled. “YEAH, WELL, UNFORTUNATELY I DIDN'T STUDY AS HARD AS MY BROTHER. HE'S FLUENT IN JAPANESE AND I...CLEARLY AM NOT.”

**“Clearly.”** You chuckled at his face, hiding your laugh behind your sleeve.  **“I used to have the power to understand all dialects. Unfortunately I do not have the power to do so anymore.”**

“NO? WHAT HAPPENED?” He asked, curious.  You hummed and tapped your nails on the table, choosing silence. “PROBABLY PERSONAL...SORRY. BUT WE COULD SURE USE THAT POWER RIGHT NOW. OR MY BROTHER.” 

You sighed and shook your head, indicating that his words got jumbled again, and he groaned. What a headache. Then again, if it was that easy, nobody would be bothering to learn other languages anymore.

“CAN YOU AT LEAST TELL ME HOW A HUMAN LIKE YOU ENDED UP STUCK BETWEEN THE WORLDS LIKE THIS?” He asked. “SEEMS YOU'VE BEEN HERE A LONG WHILE BY YOURSELF. DOES TIME FLOW DIFFERENTLY SO THAT YOU DIDN'T AGE?”

You huffed, annoyed, throwing your hands up.  **“This is not working.”**

“AGREED.” He sighed, propping his head on his hand. “ANY SUGGESTIONS?”

You laughed a little, the kind of laugh that suggested your idea was silly.  **“I can translate with magic, but we would need to become companions.”**

“OH, OKAY!” He agreed happily. Becoming friends was his first plan, anyhow--if it helped you understand each other by agreeing to be your friend, then that kills two birds with one stone, doesn't it?

You looked up at him in shock, a gasp escaping you as your hair fluffed up and your face grew as deep red as it was before. You jumped to your feet and turned your back to him, but less in anger and more in apparent embarrassment, demurely glancing back at him.  **“Blue, we cannot do that. How can you propose it so casually?”**

Shoot. Did he violate some sort of manners again? It would help if he knew what era you were from that you would base these niceties on. Maybe it took a long time or specific customs to become friends where you were from.

Maybe if he just explained that friends are much more casual in the modern world, that would help?

“WELL, I'M NOT SURE WHAT IT'S LIKE WHERE YOU'RE USED TO, BUT I HAVE LOTS OF COMPANIONS! USUALLY I MAKE THEM TACOS AS A SIGN OF FRIENDSHIP--LIKE I DID FOR YOU!” He gestured to the plate, and when the translation went through you gasped.

You were standing too far away for the phone to translate you as you bristled, but he caught some words he recognized once more as you pointed at him accusingly. When the phone didn't translate, you approached quickly and snatched it, speaking directly into it.

**“Pervert! I am not so easily purchased as that! An insult!”**

With that you threw his phone back to him with a huff, storming off once more. He scrambled to his feet to follow you, even as you slid your door shut in his face.

“WAIT! I'M SORRY! WHAT DID I SAY? IS IT THAT BAD TO BE FRIENDS WITH ME SO QUICKLY?” He asked, knocking on the wooden frame of the paper doors. “PLEASE! WE NEED TO WORK THIS OUT IF I'M EVER GOING TO GET HOME!”

Nothing but silence from the other side of the door, once more.

* * *

You sighed as you sunk into the warm water in your hot springs, already so tired from trying to communicate with Blue. The few hours you had been awake felt like a whole day, especially with his brazen demeanor.

You're a kitsune, and you're nearly 1500 years old, so it isn't like you're  _ shy _ about sex. But to be so openly propositioned with...tacos? People used to leave offerings at your shrine that were better stale than that taco was fresh. You'd never been so insulted in your life! Although you admit there's a generational gap, it still stings to be valued at a single offering that way.

Still, as you rubbed scented soaps into your tails that made them shimmer with magic, you found yourself blushing at the thought of letting him take you anyway. He was rude through the rough translations, but his general demeanor was...pleasant. You're sure he doesn't mean to offend--it's likely, since he's clearly not Japanese, that he doesn't even know how to approach a traditional youkai, let alone a kitsune. Youkai where he is from must be different, since he certainly seemed befuddled by you.

_ “Should I give him another chance?”  _ You asked Cedric, who was chewing on the sauna stones and dribbling his melty jowls all over them.  _ “It isn't like I've had many chances to copulate lately. Who knows, I might never have another chance again at this rate.” _

Cedric flopped on the masonry and smiled, dripping back into shape with a throaty noise.

You hummed, patting his belly as your tails swished behind you, pretending that Cedric was responding.

_ “But why? Well, he is very handsome, for a skeleton. He's a warrior, too, and seems to mean well.” _ You paused to give Cedric a chance to speak, and he blinked his three eyes slowly.  _ “Well, yes, he's a bit of a beef-for-brains, but honestly, when has my taste been anything but with lovers? Did you see my husband? All rippling muscle and farm tools, but couldn't read to save his life.” _

You smiled fondly at the memory of trying to teach your hapless human husband how to read. He'd been so determined to learn, but you weren't exactly patient--human lives were so short, how could you waste so much of your short time together drilling syllables?

...you wished he would have waited at least a few years before marrying anew. But then, you supposed it wasn't his fault--his memories of you had been stolen as a part of your punishment.

Well, now you definitely either need to cry or make love, and after 499 years you're all out of tears.

Rising from the water, you flicked your tails and stepped out, looking yourself over in the mirror.

Time to remember how to be seductive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She gonna seduce the fuck outta him lol.  
> And so the real miscommunication starts!


	4. Centuries-old Female Seeks Companionship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The miscommunication continues, but it's almost in your favor.

So, the good news is, he doesn't have to sleep on the floor again tonight.

The bad news is, he's homesick.

He ran his hands over the perfect replica of his bed, complete with rocketship headboard and cheesy plastic glow-in-the dark stars. The comforter was the same navy with cyan constellations, and the dresser held pictures of his dad and brother and friends.

The house had made a perfect copy of his bedroom for him, all the way down to his confiscated spiked honey stash he'd taken from Papyrus when he'd been caught with it. He touched the bottles lightly and sighed, looking up at the picture of his brother and him, wondering if these two days would turn into weeks, or years...or if he'd _ever_ get to see Papyrus again.

Considering how he had clearly offended his host, it wasn't likely that she had locked herself in her room to think up a solution.

As if summoned, there was a knock on his door, and he started slightly, moving to answer it quickly.

“I'M GLAD YOU CAME BACK OUT, LISTEN, I'M REALLY SORRY IF I OFFENDED…” He trailed off, looking you over in stunned silence.

You stood in his doorway, half-draped against the doorjamb, a very different kimono gracing your body. This one was just as loose in the shoulders, but smooth like silk and drawn tight to your curves, reaching just above your knees.

_“Konbanwa, Blue-san,”_ you cooed, and he recognized that one.

_“Konbanwa,”_ he repeated. “GOOD EVENING.”

“Good evening,” you echoed, and then bowed respectfully with your arms out in invitation. “Good evening.”

He chuckled. Well, it was a start. You stood up a little straighter and he gasped as what he had assumed was part of your dress moved and revealed nine gray fox tails with snow-white tips, fanning behind you evenly without your large robe to obscure them.

“YOU'RE A MONSTER!” He exclaimed, several realizations hitting him at once. “WOW, UH, THAT MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE THAN ME THINKING YOU WERE HUMAN. SORRY.”

You raised a brow and he backtracked, waving an apology.

“SORRY, SORRY! _YOUKAI?”_ He asked, pointing at you. You giggled, nodding, wiggling your hips a bit and letting your tails follow. “UHHH...MAKES SENSE. _YOUKAI...desu?”_

_“Hai, totemo idesu!”_ You said, clapping a little. You flattened your hands on your head, and then pulled them away to reveal two matching fox ears. “Very...gudu.”

“WELL, THAT'S PROGRESS I GUESS,” he chuckled.

_“Meito,”_ you said, pointing to him and then yourself.

You seemed a bit exasperated as you mimed to get your point across, and when he paused to think, you sighed, gesturing inside the room.

“OH, YES! COME IN!” He jumped to the side and waved you in and you strolled past with curiosity, looking around his room with wide eyes. “I'M SORRY ABOUT THE ROOM...IT JUST APPEARED, I SWEAR I'M NOT TRYING TO ELBOW INTO YOUR WAY OF LIFE. I KNOW YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND ME, BUT AT LEAST HOPEFULLY MY INTENT IS CLEAR.”

“Papyrus?” You enunciated slowly, pointing a slender finger at the picture of his brother. Then you held your hands up to mime being bigger than you were, pointing up with both hands. “Papyrus.”

“TALL!” Blue exclaimed, delighted. He was great at charades, what a good idea! “YEAH, PAPY IS REALLY TALL. BROTHER. PAPYRUS.”

You mimed 'tall’ again, and then gestured to him, standing just an inch or so shorter than you.

_“Kawaii,”_ you teased, and he knew what that meant.

“I'M STILL GROWING! I'M ONLY 22!” He huffed, crossing his arms. But he couldn't help but smirk just a bit--after all, it felt like you were finally communicating, if only a little bit.

_“Kawaii~”_ You insisted with a purr, fingertips brushing his bandana gently. You said a few other things that he didn't quite recognize, but if the way you looked at him through your lashes was any indication, he had a pretty good idea what you meant.

“OH. UHM. WOW. I…” He backed up a little as you advanced, running into the dresser behind him and rattling the pictures, making one of them fall over. He squeaked and caught it, fumbling with it for a moment before clacking it back onto the dresser as his skull flushed bright blue. “YOU'RE, UHM, REALLY HOT AND COLD, YOU KNOW?”

You shrugged and moved your hands to his waistband, and he panicked and dropped like a sack of potatoes to the floor.

You stepped back, a little confused, and then politely dropped to your knees in front of him, cocking your head as if to ask if you were doing it right.

Blue took a deep breath and covered his face for a moment, peeking up at you as you sat there, unsure of what to do. You asked him something, gesturing to yourself in a questioning manner. He watched in abject horror as you squeezed your breasts, then, even worse, acted as if you had realized something and turned around, gathering the bottom of your kimono and starting to pull it up.

“WAIT!” He squeaked, lunging forward and yanking your robe back down. You yelped and spun back around, and he grabbed your wrists, and for a long moment both of you froze.

Your face grew steadily redder as you glanced from your wrists to his face, and finally he dropped them.

“SORRY, IT ISN'T LIKE I'M... _OPPOSED_ TO THE IDEA I JUST…” He sighed, dropping your wrists and gently brushing your cheek with his fingertips instead. “SLOWER, MAYBE?”

“Slower?” You repeated, inadvertently shivering beneath his touch.

“HAIR,” he continued, touching your hair softly, and you understood. If you were to learn each other's bodies, you need to learn it in the right languages.

It would be faster if he would have been rarin’ to go, so you could just use the charm and get it done with, but you had to admit there was a certain fondness in the idea of taking it word by word.

“Hair.” You repeated. _“_ **_Hea_ ** _. Very close.”_

_“HEA,”_ he repeated, grinning wide when you nodded. He mimicked your surprise with his next phrase, and you giggled.

_“Skull,”_ you said, patting the top of his head and running gentle fingers down to his mandible.

_“ZUGAIKOTSU,”_ he repeated, the light blue tinge returning to his face. “SKULL? HEAD? FACE?”

You shrugged, understanding literally zero of those translations, and you both chuckled.

You continued like this for a little bit, learning words like “happy” and “sad”, teaching him how to say _good morning_ and _thank you_. His touch was eager and firm, still gentle in its own way but still such a sensation after so many centuries alone.

You wondered, idly, as you crammed basic greetings and words into each other's heads, if you would even be able to handle intercourse--just the brush of his fingertips on your skin is lighting up every nerve, his warmth inviting you to loosen up and lean closer.

With nobody around these past centuries, your body had grown accustomed to skipping heats. No reason to prepare when isolation was your only companion. But now, even as your mind still urged you to be wary of this stranger, your body begged to be closer, and you felt the haze begin to settle over you as you inched closer and closer to him.

“OH, GOODNESS,” he chuckled nervously as you pressed eagerly into his lap, muttering more words he couldn't understand.

“Happy?” You asked, miming a smile with your fingers as you planted yourself squarely on his pelvis, your tails flicking mischievously as you settled there, your chest at just the right height to give him a perfect view down your robes.

He forced himself to look you in the eyes, finding them half-lidded, a smirk on your lips as you looked down at his lap.

“Happy,” you giggled, wiggling against his insistent magic as it rose in his lap.

“I'D HAVE TO BE MADE OF STONE TO BE UNAFFECTED,” he said, allowing you to move his hands to your hips gently.

Of course he had no problem with a casual hookup, especially if it made communication easier. Considering that you had been here on your own for who knows how long, and how hot and cold you've been since you met, he wouldn't dismiss the idea that a little “stress relief” might help you loosen up. In fact, the very idea of such a thing had clearly already loosened you up, seeing as you were here in his lap.

He may not understand what you say, but he knows body language at the very least--and as much as his brother likes to deny it, he isn't as innocent and oblivious as some people choose to believe.

“Yes?” You asked, fiddling with his scarf as your other hand traced down the front of his battlebody, the buckles undoing themselves with a tingle of unfamiliar magic and sending a thrill down his spine.

“OH! YEAH! YES, DEFINITELY,” he stammered. _“HAI.”_

You laughed a little at his rambling, and when he opened his mouth to say something else, you extended a slender finger to stop him with a gentle _shh…_

_“Shaberanaide,”_ you urged, and even though he didn't know what it meant he got the picture, snapping his jaw shut. You moved with him easily as he tightened his grip on your waist, and he was surrounded by the scent of you--a soft, feminine scent, like the cherry blossoms in Undyne's backyard and something earthy he couldn't quite place.

You shivered in his grip, sliding your hands over his shoulders to pull his armor off, delighted to find the bulk of muscle beneath was as genuine as his smile. You could feel the pulse of his magic beneath the soft fabric of his clothes, buzzing with life, youth, and excitement.

For a moment you did nothing but let the feeling wash over you, humming as you remembered what power felt like. You used only 1% of what you used to have, and even that is only a tenth of what you are capable of--if you used 10% of your powers, which at this point is maximum output, you would likely pass out after seconds. But this young youkai was so vibrant and _new_ , brimming with potential and kindness at his core. He held something that you had never quite been able to grasp, something you had always longed for…

Blue moved slowly, letting your hand draw over his chest slowly, a far-off look in your eyes as he laid you back on the bed, careful not to catch your tails.

“I CAN TAKE IT OFF?” He asked, miming pulling his shirt up, and your attention snapped back to his face, blinking as if coming to clarity.

You cocked your head, pressing fingertips into the gentle give of his magic, before your hand moved to pull his shirt up, observing the empty space to his spine. You pulled the shirt back down, patting his tummy, and then back up with surprised delight and a questioning head tilt.

He chuckled, sitting up and pulling his shirt and over his head, leaving his bandana. He grinned and held both arms up as if flexing, and you clapped in delight as his blue ecto body faded into view, his intense training regimen obvious in every spot. His chubby tummy was actually a slab of muscle, solid and protective of his vulnerable bones.

“NOT BAD, HUH?” He asked, moving to flex a different way for you as you sat up against his pillows.

_“Anata wa totemo tsuyoidesu,”_ you said, a tone of playful ego stroking to your voice. He had no idea what you said, but he puffed up his chest just a little bit anyway. You squeezed his bicep and hummed, seemingly impressed, and then mimed being larger than yourself. “ _Tsuyoi_. Big.”

You mimicked his flex, repeating the word in Japanese.

“STRONG,” he corrected, gathering that was what you meant from your adorable imitation.

“Strong,” you repeated, flopping back onto the pillows. You shifted into an exaggerated seductive pose, and he stifled a laugh at your over-the-top face. “Strong, _ne_?”

You pointed to his formed magic, straining against his sweatpants, and he felt his skull flush navy.

“OH, UH, I GUESS? I MEAN I'M STILL GROWING BUT I'VE HEARD GOOD THINGS FROM MY PAST PARTNERS,” he mumbled, mostly to himself as he adjusted his waistband nervously.

You rolled your eyes and hooked him by the bandana, and within a second he found himself kissing you, the scent from before tantalizing his senses and distracting from any calculated approach he may have had towards this.

There was a sense of fragility to your form, but not in a bad way. You trembled at every touch as he hesitantly ran his fingers through your loose tresses. Despite the way you flinched and jumped at very new centimeter he touched, you were flushed and smiling and he felt a deep sense of experience from you. He'd been with a few, but you were _old_ , in the way that the earth is old, in the way that the monster world is old, in the way that spirits are old and language is old and the idea of love is old.

You were...beautiful.

He tore from your kiss slowly, panting as he brought a gloved hand to his face in an attempt to hide the hearts he could _feel_ in his sockets, leaning back and reaching to his waistband.

 

**_~Ne ne mama, wine choudai_ **

**_Ne ne papa, ne ne papa!~_ **

 

He froze, sockets going wide as his brother's ringtone sang out, and you perked up hearing that it was in Japanese. Before you could blink he was scrambling off the bed for the phone, grabbing it and smashing “Answer”.

“HELLO?! PAPY?!”

**“sans! holy fuck, i've been calling you for two days!”**

Blue sighed at the sound of his brother's voice, a small comfort in knowing that he can reach him even if it was a fluke.

**“where the hell are ya? g says you aren't in the close universes, we haven't been able to get a read on the--”** He fizzled out with static for a moment, and Blue scrambled to his feet to try and find the signal. **“--m super calm, by the way, definitely not chainsmoking and having nightmares about only finding dust so please tell me something i can go on before i give myself a stroke?”**

“I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM,” he admitted, looking over to where you had crept to the edge of the bed, tails swishing curiously as you watched. “I'M IN SOME MANSION IN THE VOID, AND THERE'S A REALLY NICE FOX LADY HERE WHO, UH, DOESN'T SPEAK ANY ENGLISH. WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO COMMUNICATE BUT SO FAR ALL I'M UNDERSTANDING IS ANIME MEME-SPEAK AND...BODY LANGUAGE.”

**“...okay back up. mansion?”**

“IN THE VOID.”

There was a pause as he muttered something Blue couldn't hear, possibly to G. **“g says weirder things have happened…but he's never heard of it.”**

“WELL, SHE KNOWS YOU GUYS. SHE EVEN MADE A LITTLE ILLUSION OF G WHEN I TOLD HER MY NAME WAS SANS.” Blue thought for a beat, and then added: “AND SHE KNEW YOU BY NAME FROM A PICTURE IN MY ROOM.”

**“your room?”**

“OH, YEAH, THE MANSION MADE A PERFECT REPLICA OF MY ROOM HERE. IT SEEMS TO RESPOND TO WHAT I NEED OR WANT, AND I THINK IT DISTRESSES HER. SEEMS LIKE SHE DOESN'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT MODERN CONVENIENCE.”

**“...okay i'm lost.”**

“YOU AREN'T THE ONLY ONE,” he sighed, rubbing his temple with one gloved hand. “I'VE BEEN COMPLETELY LOST ON ALL OF THIS FOR TWO DAYS. IF ONLY I SPOKE…”

He gasped, and Papyrus’ voice crackled on the other end in response. **“what? what happened?”**

“PAPY! YOU SPEAK JAPANESE!”

A tired chuckle. **“uh. i mean, yeah?”**

“YOU SHOULD SPEAK TO HER! GOOGLE TRANSLATE ISN'T WORKING, I THINK HER DIALECT IS TOO OLD.”

**“and...who is 'her’ again?”**

“THE LADY OF THE MANSION. I THOUGHT SHE WAS HUMAN BUT SHE'S APPARENTLY A MONSTER, ER...A YOUKAI, SHE CALLED IT.”

**“basically means spirit. encompasses a lot of things. am i right to assume she speaks only japanese?”**

“EXACTLY!”

**“and...she knows how a phone works? or will she think it's a devil box and that i'm a bad acid trip?”**

“I...DON'T KNOW,” he muttered, glancing over at you again. You had flopped on your side, eyeing him with interest as your ear twitched, kimono riding up and making him blush all over again as he remembered what you had been in the middle of. “SH-SHE'S REALLY SMART, THOUGH, AND, UH...CURVY.”

**“she's what?”**

“SMART! SHE'S REALLY SMART!” He corrected quickly. “I'M SURE SHE'LL UNDERSTAND QUICKLY.”

**“...you got a crush, bro?”**

“NO! I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW! I JUST MET HER!” Blue gave you a big smile and the way you flipped your hair and smiled back made his chest feel tight. “OKAY. MAYBE A LITTLE ONE. SORT OF. I MEAN, ONE SECOND SHE'S SAYING SHE DOESN'T WANT TO BE FRIENDS AND THEN SHE SHOWS UP IN MY ROOM ALL CUTE AND PRACTICALLY TEARS MY CLOTHES OFF SO I THINK IT COULD BE LUST I'M FEELING?”

**“jeez, and here i'm worrying for your life an’ you're gettin’ busy with an interdimensional fox lady?”** Papyrus chuckled as Blue sighed in annoyance. **“just teasin’, bro. but, uh, let me take a crack at understandin’ her for ya--maybe you can get some answers.”**

* * *

****Papyrus waited through an excruciating five minutes of listening to his brother loudly try to explain the phone to you. Why is it when trying to break a language barrier people always raise their voices? He's pretty sure you aren't deaf.

**“--LET ME JUST PUT MY BROTHER ON SPEAKER SO YOU CAN SEE.”**

**_“Are we using the box again? The translations on this thing are terrible…”_ **

Papyrus perked up at the sound of the new voice. Huh. You sound pretty cute, actually. Sans was all over the place with his explanation so for some reason he had expected a deep void-monster voice, but you were actually pretty normal, if a little formal in verbage. Sans of course had no idea what you had said and continued to chatter.

“i'll take it from here, bro, it'll be easier if i do.”

**“OH, DUH! GOOD IDEA! SAY HI, PAPY!”** There was shuffling. **“IT'S MY BROTHER. PAPYRUS? YEAH! TALL!”**

**“Tall. Papyrus.** **_The one who speaks Japanese, yes?”_ **

_“that would indeed be me,”_ he interjected, and a happy noise came from he assumed you. _“sorry about everything, i guess? i don't really understand what's happened.”_

**_“Neither do I. May I say, your Japanese is much better than the box did before. How do you get your voice in there? Is it a telepathic link? Are you also a youkai?”_ **

_“it's a type of invention. science. and yeah, m'a skeleton like my brother. is he doing okay?”_

**“PAPY, TELL HER I'M SORRY FOR MESSING UP HER HOUSE AND SHOWING UP UNINVITED. AND FOR OFFENDING HER EARLIER.”**

_“he says he's sorry for the house and for offending you earlier.”_

**_“It is of no consequence. I assume manners are quite different in the modern world--in my time no man would ever dream of buying a woman's virtue with...tacos?”_ **

_“he said what?”_

**“WHAT DID SHE SAY?”**

“she said you tried to buy sex from her with tacos.”

**“GOOD GRIEF, NO WONDER SHE WAS SO UPSET! THAT WASN'T WHAT I SAID AT ALL!”** Sans sighed heavily on the other end of the line. **“SHE SAID SHE COULD UNDERSTAND MY LANGUAGE IF WE BECAME COMPANIONS, AND I SAID SURE, AND SHE GOT ALL WEIRD ABOUT IT, SO I TOLD HER IN MY TIME I HAVE A LOT OF COMPANIONS.”**

**_“Am I missing something?”_ **

“this is an actual nightmare,” he muttered to himself. _“he says you offered to be friends and that when he said yes you acted weird.”_

**_“I did not say friends, I said mates. I only meant that if we were to mate, then magic could be transferred to me and I could cast a charm to understand each other. I thought he understood? Until you called we were about to mate.”_ **

“ah, come on. you two couldn't puzzle this out between you?” He groaned, although a smirk began to stretch across his face. “sans. she offered to mate with you, not be friends. you told her that you mate with people all the time by offering them sex tacos.”

**“YOU KNOW, JUST BECAUSE YOU SPEAK JAPANESE AND I DON'T DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN PULL MY LEG WITH FAKE TRANSLATIONS.”**

He chuckled and shook his head. “just put the lady back on again so i can pick her brain to get you home.”

**“...OKAY.”**

He paused, raising a brow even though Blue couldn't see it. “what? you don't wanna come home?”

**“NO, NO, I DO! REALLY! IT'S JUST...SHE'S ALL ALONE HERE, PAPY. I THINK I'M THE FIRST PERSON SHE'S SEEN IN A LONG TIME.”**

“sans--and i can't believe i'm saying this--you can't stay in an alternate void-timeline all alone with a person you just met just because she's lonely.”

**“I KNOW! BUT MAYBE WE COULD BRING HER HOME WITH US? OR SOMETHING?”**

“we'll talk about it,” Papyrus conceded with a sigh. “let me talk to her first, ok?”

He had a feeling it was going to be a long night, assuming the signal kept up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are enjoying this! It feels nice to get some content out and I'm hoping this doesn't seem too rushed or lame.  
> I have tier rewards for my Patreon now, by the way, so check out my Twitter in the links at the end of the fic to see what they are!


	5. Idle Affection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As G and Stretch gain ground on the machine, you and Blue have discovered a happy middle ground...and swiftly grow attached.

Papyrus had suggested Blue should take it slow with you, since you came from an entirely different world and had apparently been all alone here for almost 500 years. He agrees that it isn't good to rush into intimacy with anyone, especially if even they don't know how they might react to sex.

He also learned a few more interesting things about you--

You're a specific type of monster spirit called a Kitsune, which means you're a shapeshifter, too! As well as that, the numbers in his CHECK were not actually off at all, and you really were 1499 years old. Beyond that Papyrus said he couldn't get much else out of you, even saying you claimed to have no name.

As such, he'd kinda taken to trying nicknames out on you in the last few days. He had also picked up on the fact that you tried desperately not to flinch every time he spoke, and that it was likely his volume, so he tried to keep his voice down a bit. It made sense, seeing as he's the only one here but you.

You were still all over the place, though--sometimes you were really interested in him and being around him, and sometimes you locked yourself in your room for several hours at a time. He was only able to call Papyrus from his room for some reason, and even then connection was spotty--so there was no real chance of a true translation anymore.

But on the bright side, there were several nonverbal ways of communicating that seemed to work for the both of you, and silent acceptance instead of frustration and confusion became a boon. Over the last few days the both of you had seemed to accept the lack of communication and stopped trying to explain yourselves--it had birthed some truly hilarious moments, including your confusion on what his underwear was when you insisted on doing his laundry in the stream in the garden room.

He focused really hard on the door in front of him, trying to will it into doing what he wanted. He had found it in the corner of the garden, looking as if it led outside but curiously just out of reach. The more he looked at it, the more the garden grew, and the farther away the door seemed.

He felt a lot like Alice--curiouser and curiouser.

“Blue-chan?”

He started at your sudden appearance, sneaking being something you were very good at, just like his brother. You had taken to wearing multiple-layered kimonos, he assumed in an attempt to “clean up” your appearance, and your hair was plaited in one braid often--it seemed to get everywhere, otherwise.

He beamed at you, gesturing to the door with a questioning head tilt--gestures seemed to get his points across faster, as he'd learned these past few days.

You shrugged, tails flicking curiously.

Great, so you don't know what it does, either. He sighed and gave up on his idea of making a training space in the garden. He didn't know how to mold it to be what he wanted, and it seemed so natural for you that you had hardly considered how it was done. Not that you could explain it to him anyhow.

Resistance training with his own weight it is, then. Again. He kind of missed having targets for practice, but he didn't want to wreck your garden, either.

You said something, and he turned back to you, following your point--to where a target range had appeared amongst a dense forest of trees, seemingly from nowhere and a good distance away from your plants.

Aha! Success! He wondered if the secret was either you can't consciously think of what you need, or you have to give up before the house will give you what you want. Either way, he had a training range now!

“Thank you!” He said happily, trying his best to control his volume as he whirled around to thank you properly, pulling you into a hug. You made a small noise of surprise, and when he released you, you stood there a moment in complete stillness, trying to puzzle out what just happened as he bounced off.

You sighed, tugging on your braid, watching him fondly as he attacked the new targets with a vigor for life you hadn't had in centuries. Even if communication is less than impossible, you're still learning a lot from him.

You had talked with his brother for quite some time, discussing the details of your little pocket world. You think he and the other Sans might be able to figure it out in enough time, which is good…

...but your smile fell a bit as you thought about going back to being completely alone. What a cruel joke the fates were playing, to wait until you accepted your lot and then show you again what you could have had, or could still have, if only you would kneel.

As curious as the modern youkai was, you didn't hold any disdain for him. He was sweet, and genuine--he reminded you of a time where you weren't so jaded and spacey.

You settled on a rock to watch him as he began to sling bones left and right, and when he noticed you watching, his smile grew wider and his moves had more flourish. He even paused to wink at you, and you giggled behind your hand and waved.

You really hope his brother takes a while with that machine. You want to enjoy his company a little longer.

* * *

“i think we’re overloading this processor here,” Papyrus offered, tapping the panel in question as G yawned, wiping a smudge of grease off his face. “she said it’s on the place where all timelines meet, so maybe we’re trying to jump too far? maybe we’re supposed to be going half the distance we’re thinking?”

“Assumin’ it’s in the middle, yeah.” G shrugged. “Could be timelines that are closer, or farther away than we are. Maybe distance ain’t even a focus we should be worryin’ about, maybe it’s like...here. Maybe it’s diagonal or parallel.”

“sounds like there’s less math to it than we’re makin’ it out t’be, though,” Papyrus sighed. “maybe we should just look for a constantly shifting something in the void.”

G groaned and laid his head down. “Back to the drawing board in that case, eh, Stretch?”

Papyrus hummed, lifting his mug to his teeth to take a long sip of tea. Knowing his brother was safe, or at least it seemed so, he supposed there was no rush. Which is good, because this fucking thing wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

“wonder if we're relying too much on science and not enough on magic,” Papyrus mumbled. “science makes too much sense, so if the place in question makes no sense…”

“...Then the machine doesn't necessarily have to make sense,” G supplied, sitting up and grabbing a wire thoughtfully. “Like fighting stupid with stupid.”

“woulda went with fire, but yeah.”

Papyrus meandered to the bench, collapsing on the stool and patting his pockets for his pen, then began making notes on a spare pad of paper.

“More magic would also stabilize the travel, letting more go through at once, but without a similar machine on their end--”

“we'd get stuck there, too.”

“Which means you getta pick a nickname,” G teased, and he chuckled. “In case the original rolls around.”

“how about 'mcsexy’?” He offered jokingly. “it's descriptive.”

“Work on it,” G snickered. “I'll get to work on increasing the magic output.”

* * *

_ “You don't need a nickname, you're the only Papyrus I know,” _ you said honestly, holding Blue's talking box to your ear as his brother chuckled on the other end.  _ “Why are you laughing? You think I meet many boys?” _

**_“no, s'not that. just funny,”_ ** Papyrus said, voice crackling.  **_“m'not the only papyrus, jus’ like my bro and g aren't the only sanses. we get this machine working, and there could be dozens more of us runnin’ around.”_ **

_ “Promise?” _

His chuckle was gratifying, reminding you how nice it is to be able to communicate with someone. You loved Blue's company, and you weren't opposed to happy silence, but you have so much you are dying to learn about your house guest, so many things to ask him, and there are some conversations best had without a translator.

**_“anyway, looks like we're getting somewhere on figuring this jump out. thought i'd just pick your brain again.”_ **

_ “I wish I could help more,”  _ you said, and you meant it for the most part.

**_“it's okay. we're pretty smart, m'sure we can get it, and he seems content there with you.”_ **

You felt your tails flick happily at that despite your stony face.  _ “He says that?” _

**_“doesn't have to. i know him.”_ **

Blue plopped down next to you, freshly washed after his training and smelling of your many soaps and washes, wearing a robe you had left him on the counter and looking very much closer to your time than his. You raised a brow at him and he chuckled, caught. He held his hand out and you gave him the phone, and when the English started you tuned him out.

As he spoke to his brother you assumed the usual position of laying lazily across his bed. It was definitely comfy, and though you still prefer your mat you could easily fall asleep here. You reached out and hesitantly placed your hand on his leg, and he absently placed his hand on top of yours, making you squeak quietly and smile.

You called this “affection training”. Every night you found a reason to be in his room or wherever he was, and you made the effort to touch or caress him. After a few days he'd recognized the pattern, and had started to help with your training by casually hugging you and touching your hair whenever he got the chance. It all made you light up and fluster, but hopefully soon you'd at least be comfortable enough to have sex. It seemed he was observant enough to know when his touch was uncomfortable, so you hadn't yet gotten as close as you had the first time.

He set down his phone and scooted a little closer, and you forced yourself not to flinch away from his gentle fingers as they lightly touched your hair.

You hummed and sighed and wiggled closer as he pet your hair, and he smiled fondly down at you. It was cute how hard you were trying to get used to him. He had thought, perhaps, that you would be cold forever, but you were very much like a cat in the way you wished for affection. You wanted it when you wanted it, and other times you were an ice queen--but he supposed that sometimes being open to it was pretty good for someone who had been alone for nearly 500 years.

He was definitely fond of you. He hoped you would come with him when he leaves...it hurts him to think about leaving you behind. Maybe he should be more cautious about how he approaches you just in case you do stay behind, but he can't help it--the subtle way you express yourself is just so enchanting, the regal figure of someone wiser and older than she looks, the way you exude both a motherly and a lover vibe at once.

You were practically purring beneath his fingertips right now, and he wanted so badly to kiss you. He was certainly in too deep already...he might as well enjoy the ride.

After all, his brother says they'll have the machine fixed by next week, and if he may never see you again...he wants to make the most of this time.


	6. Someday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someday, you'll understand each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna start citing my sources lol. I'll explain some cultural things I researched in the end notes if you like! This is like one big extra-fun research paper on 1000s-1500s Japan

Over the next few days Blue noticed you had taken an interest in learning more about modern Japan, as well as what things were like where he was from.

He granted you the magazines he kept in his room, things he normally saves for collages and other crafts, but would be perfect for experiencing the world around him back home, through his eyes.

Currently you were elbow deep in sewing catalogues, Vanity Faire, TIME magazine, Rolling Stone, a few mangas borrowed from Undyne, and whatever other crazy stuff Papyrus orders when he's high. Blue let you do your thing, choosing instead to work on mending his bandana. He knows there would be more in his closet miraculously if he opened it, but this is the one he came with, and he's rather sentimental about it. Papyrus had given it to him for his birthday last year, navy blue with cyan stars dotting the fabric.

It was his favorite. And it was doing a decent job of distracting him from you, sprawled out on his bed, turning the pages in silence. He wondered what you were extrapolating about his life back home with the information you had--puzzles were a pleasure of his, so he can only imagine how his world must boggle the mind to fresh eyes.

He felt a tap on the shoulder, and turned to see you had scooted to the edge of the bed, showing him some pages in the sewing catalogue's costume section.

...the Geisha costumes. And the Samurai costumes. He tried not to grimace immediately, but they were pretty insensitive.

**"Bushido? Saburuko?"** You asked, confused.  **"They got many things wrong, here."**

He took the book and flipped a few pages, before presenting you with a section on historical clothing. The outfits from your era were much more accurate, and you thanked him as you went to sift through the eras. You were surprised at how quickly Japan moved towards Western fashion, as if one year they were all wearing  _ yukata _ and the next, it was nothing but suits and pants and hats. Discarding the sewing book, you retrieved one of the other ones, this one full of pictures of people. You had no idea who they were, but they seemed important--maybe they were well-known? They seemed to be trendsetters, or at least, people wanted to emulate them. Their clothing choices generally seemed to mirror the rest of the modern clothing you had seen, so it wasn't much different than any of the sewing books had shown you. You don't think they're nobility, there aren't any indicators they would be.

But you were curious about their outfits. You’d long worn your usual robes, and seeing the new fashions was an interesting juxtaposition from what you knew. In the past, women wore many, many layers, and less layers meant you were more intimate--no noble woman would be in her last layer unless it was for her husband’s eyes.

But your husband had been a farmer, not a nobleman. You’d grown accustomed, at the time, to dressing what your elders would consider provocatively, or else the many layers would get in the way of working the grain fields. You had often found humor in the noble classes’ idea that layers of clothing protected them from evil--by their standards, your husband and those of his ilk were susceptible to demons because they wore less to work the fields. How hilarious, considering what you are.

And now, you were laying there in only one layer, looking at pictures of people in even less and more complex at the same time.

You found an outfit you liked, though you had no idea how to wear it, and turned to get Blue’s attention, tapping his shoulder with the book.

**“Could you help me put this on?”**

You tapped the picture, and pointed to his closet, and he seemed to understand.

He stood and walked over, retrieving the fresh-from-the-void sundress. He blushed a little at the idea of helping you into it, but he was certain you didn’t know what a zipper was so he had no choice.

He gasped when he turned around to see you already sliding the robe from your shoulders, and he turned to the wall again to get a hold of himself. Relax! You just want to try on a dress, you don’t need him making this weird.

But it is weird, isn’t it? It’s been weird. And that’s alright, he realized--it meant there was something there, and he steeled himself, not even trying to control his blush or thumping magic as he guiding the lace dress over your head, settled it on your shoulders, smoothed it over your breasts, and tugged the skirt into place.

You were patient as he slid the zipper up, as his suddenly-clumsy hands tried to button the cosmetic buttons over it, up to the neck. The cute cap sleeves suited you, but it was more of your skin than he was used to seeing, and that was saying something, seeing as you’re constantly having to adjust your waist ties.

You looked over your shoulder at him with a sly smile, cocking your head.

“CUTE,” he squeaked, and he meant it. You purred at the praise, tails flicking--

Oh. Oh my. He’s going to have to make sure there’s a hole for your tails, or teach you what panties are, because when your tails flicked up all happy like that, your skirt went with them and he got an  _ eyeful _ of a heavenly soft-looking, round ass, and just the slightest peek of--

Nope! He’s not looking! He’s staring at the glow-in-the dark stars on his ceiling and debating whether or not he could tuck and roll out the window without alarming you.

Probably not. 

Thankfully, you seemed to notice the error in the dress, because you made a tutting noise and shifted your tails away with a frown, patting the skirt down over the curve of your ass modestly. He got the inkling that you didn’t quite like dismissing your tails, and come to think of it he didn’t think he’d ever actually seen you shift them away. Usually your clothes accommodated them or else they hid under the long, trailing skirts of your robes.

One look back at him over your shoulder, though, and he was certain you’d seen more than he’d like you to know about him.

\---------

Skirts and dresses. A new one each morning that you wanted help with. He got used to tying, zipping, and buttoning you up, smoothing the fabric on your curves, even helping pick a few out. It wasn’t until the third day of this that he even realized this was just another chance to help you get used to his touch. 

And you did, and you were. Letting him fuss over your hair and clothes was obviously calming for you--perhaps it brought back memories or something, because you leaned into it at least twice as much as any other touches throughout the day, and by the end of the week he was letting his hand linger on your hips, in your hair, the small of your back.

As he fastened the tie on your dress one morning, you even purred. Or, sort of purred. A deep hum, emanating from deeper than your chest, making his hands clumsy as he felt it in his soul.

A good sound. An amazing, deep, entrancing sound.

His hand on your shoulder sadly paused the noise, but what followed made it worth it. You turned in his grip easily, accepting the soft kiss he offered, and soon you were rolling back onto the bed, pulling him with you. He wouldn’t take it too far, but he wanted to taste you, to feel your lips on his teeth and see if maybe, this ache in his chest isn’t alone.

You kissed him again, and again, and again, and he could feel your heart beating faster in your chest, could feel the relief in your quivering form as he dragged gentle fingers over soft skin. Today’s dress was sleeveless, and even touching the skin of your shoulder was enough to make you both shudder.

He wished he could ask you. He wished he knew how to ask, to ask if it was okay, to ask if it was too much, but all he could do was watch your body language like a hawk, second-guessing every shudder, being delighted when you pulled him back for more.

**_“Blue-san,”_ ** you sighed happily, before taking his face in your hands and looking up at him.  **_“_ ** **_Anata wa watashi ni totte taisetsunahitodesu.”_ **

“Stars, I wish I understood,” he sighed, covering your hand with his on one cheek, leaning into it. “...Someday we’ll understand each other.”

You smiled, clearly thinking the same thing even if you didn’t understand him in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MK translator:  
> "Blue...you're very special to me."
> 
>  _"Bushido? Sabukruko?_  
>  ~The word Geisha wasn't coined until the 18th century! Saburuko was the term used for serving women. Saburuko were the predecessors of Geisha, and would serve meals and sell sex (Back before prostitution was illegal, when it was the most respected, oldest tradition)  
> ~Originally wandering girls from struggling families, Saburuko were not at all based in the traditional makeups until the late 8th century. Then they were less of serving girls and more entertainment, like dancers! This is where the idea of a heavily made-up woman began. In this time, a "wife" was only a mother and runner of the household, and love and sex were optional. Men and women were not expected to remain faithful to their wives and would often get their delights from Saburuko (courtesans/escorts/etc)  
> ~Prostitution was made "illegal" outside of certain "Pleasure Quarters" in the 1600s. They called the Saburuko "yujo (Play women)" there.  
> ~Geisha were entertainers in the Pleasure quarters, emerging in the early 18th century, and, actually, most of the first Geisha were heavily made-up and crossdressing men! Even the women weren't always prostitutes, either--some were entertainment only!


	7. Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some nights you are weary, reliving the pains of your past.  
> You've always had to face them alone...but not anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double feature! More notes on Japanese culture and translation in the end notes (:

It was dark when Blue woke, a little confused as to what had woken him but with an unsettled feeling in his bones.

He pushed up from the bed, looking around, the moonlight from your garden room pouring in through his window across rumpled sheets. His feet clicked against the hardwood as he tapped across the floor to the door, seemingly on autopilot, following the ugly feeling with worry on his sleep-heavy mind.

The door creaked when he opened it, and a weird smear followed it, as if smushing a liquid across the floor.

Three eyes blinked up at him as the slime at his feet slowly receded. He sighed--it was only Cedric, who rolled onto his side and kicked his slimy feet, begging for belly pats.

“What are you doing out here?” He whispered, squatting down to give him the pats he clearly wanted. “Don't you sleep with the Miss?”

He looked at the trail of slime slowly making its way back to Cedric. Hmm. He must have booked it over there pretty quickly if his slime couldn't keep up. He hoped everything was okay with you…

He moved quietly through the dark, Cedric on his heels, collecting his slime as he approached your door. It was slid slightly open, which is unusual...he debated for a moment on whether to go peek in, and ultimately decided he should since Cedric kept staring at the door from where he sat at his feet.

“Miss?” He said quietly, sliding it open just enough to squeeze through.

He gasped softly at the sight of you, sitting by the window with your elbows on the windowsill, resting your head in your hands. The moonlight streamed in, bathing you in silver. Your hair, your skin, your eyes, your robe--they all glittered like starlight, making you look like an angel.

“Miss Kitsune?” He asked softly, and you hummed, the only sign you were listening. He approached slowly, trying not to startle you.

He gently brushed your shoulder, and you shivered beneath his touch. He was about to withdraw when you turned to him, a deep loneliness in your gorgeous amethyst eyes as you smiled at him, opening your arms.

Were you unwell? There's a hint of pained memories in your gaze and as he sinks to his knees beside you he wonders what stories you would tell if only he could understand you.

He leaned into your embrace, wrapping his arms around you, and you sighed, melting into his touch. You wished you could tell him just how much it meant to have him here, for however long he will be.

It was one of those contemplative nights where the moonlight made you shine as you used to. In all your silver grace, your power and pride, your overwhelming glory...it had been so beautiful, and when you glowed you remembered, things you'd forgotten either by choice or by time. You remember, now, how it felt to be alive. How it felt to be in love, giggling and running through the budding fields of grain. Long nights with your many past lovers, skin on skin and whispers of forever on your lips.

You remembered pain. You remembered loss. You remembered the decades of tears that you cried when your child was ripped from your womb and your husband from your arms.

Forever never lasted. It was a truth you knew all too well. So when you muttered the word against Blue's skull, you couldn't know what it might do.

_ Stay. _

It made him shudder, the Intent in your word making it easy to understand. He wanted to be with you, too, he could feel it, the tug of his soul against his ribcage. He knew why he'd ended up here.

“You didn't even know you were calling for me,” he said softly. “All this time. Alone.”

Silence.

And then...as quickly as it started, the haze of the moment passed, and the moonlight slowly faded, your hair falling in an avalanche of auburn curls, down over your shoulders, the silver of your tails fading back to gray as you laid your head on his shoulder.

One tear glistened at the edge of your lashes, but it did not fall, and Blue didn't dare move for fear of disturbing you. He didn't know what all that was about, but…

...he feels like he knows you a little better now, somehow.

He shifted, and your hand grasped his sleep shirt, and you pressed closer almost desperately with a whimper.

“Oh, I'm not leaving!” He soothed, squeezing you gently and adjusting to rest against the wall. He hummed in a low tone, like his Dad used to do when he was little and had a nightmare.

His hands traced slowly, marveling at the way you shuddered, how you never drew back. He could tell the touches were driving you crazy, but it was positive, and you only whined when he stopped, practically begging for more.

He had to get you to lay down. Some sleep would be good for you right now. It was easy enough to pick you up--you were a lot lighter than his limits for deadlift, so he hauled you up quickly and without issue. The problem would be...where to put you down...and how.

He lowered you both to the blankets, and you pressed against him, your kimono slipping off your shoulder. He blushed and tried to pull it back up, but it only slipped again, and seeing as you didn’t seem to mind he let it happen, sighing and laying back, staring up at the ceiling.

**_“Blue-san?”_ **

He looked over at you, tucked against his side so small, as if he really were the bigger monster here. You had a sense of fragility about you, and though you couldn’t communicate enough to tell him what was on your mind, he got the picture when you closed your eyes and leaned closer.

He met you in the middle for a gentle kiss, drawing light fingertips across your soft skin, sliding your kimono down off your shoulders on both sides as you rolled daintily on top of him. He could feel his soul thumping loudly inside his chest, but tonight was not for fornicating, he decided. Tonight was for comfort, soft touches, and helping relieve the pain of whatever memories you were reliving. Still, he couldn’t help the excitement in his bones, and in his shorts, as your tongue swirled with his ever-so-gently, as if it were all nothing but a very, very good dream.

He was breathing heavy, starry-eyed and lovestruck as you pulled away just a bit. He cocked his head as if to ask you what was wrong, and you said nothing, only drawing your fingertips to linger over his sternum, where his soul thumped rhythmically, calling to you.

He held his breath, not saying no, but also not giving permission. You sat there for a long moment, debating whether or not to pull his soul out--taboo unless bonding, at least for you, but you wanted the comfort, you had to see his desires without filter…

...but him becoming wary and resentful...would be worse than him leaving.

**_“Ai-mite no_ **

**_Nochi no kokoro ni_ **

**_Kurabureba_ **

**_Mukashi wa mono wo_ **

**_Omowazari keri.”_ **

His sockets widened as you recited what appeared to be poetry, such beautiful words he had never heard. He had no idea what it meant, but it was sincere and beautiful. He didn’t know if you wrote it or read it, but it felt...good.

“Woah,” he whispered dumbly, and you smiled at him, moving your hand from his chest to brush over his skull, murmuring gently to him.

And sleep overtook him.

* * *

You were startlingly shy in the following days, and Blue could hardly catch you even in the garden. You would blush and scurry off, as if he’d offended you somehow, and it worried him.

He’d thought you’d grown closer that evening, but maybe he’d been mistaken? He was getting a little better with Japanese, or at least, the owl on his app tells him he’s doing okay, and he wants to practice with you and try to talk at least a little.

He still doesn’t understand a word of that poem you recited. It’s hard to find a coherent translation through traditional means, AKA google translate. It must be very, very old japanese, like everything before your time here. Or maybe he’s butchering the phonic spelling, who knows.

“Miss Kitsune!” He called, and you squeaked and hid slightly behind your impressive sunflowers.

" **_Ah! Blue-San!"_ ** You murmured, dusting the dirt from your hands as he peeked around the bright flowers.

"Blue," he insisted, hoping to stress that you didn't need honorifics with him. He'd learned a bit about those, and he wanted to be more familiar with you. He held out a single red rose he'd picked from the wild rosebushes near the edge of his training site, and you sighed, hand on your hips and shaking your head. Then you took the rose, leaning up to kiss his cheekbone.

**_"Rakkīda yo, kawaī yo, koibito."_ **

He chuckled, blushing a little. He recognized you calling him cute, but more than that he recognized the term of endearment in place of his name, and that certainly felt nice.

Okay, so not offended, but embarrassed? Maybe you were embarrassed to be caught that vulnerable. Older monsters had similar hangups, even where he lived, let alone a  _ very _ traditional place like Fuedal Japan.

...are you shorter than before? He stepped a little closer, and sure enough, he was taller than you by a few inches. He certainly hadn't grown any, so he indicated your previous height down to the top of your head with a puzzled look.

You chuckled, poking your cheeks. **_"Kawai, ne?"_ **

You spun and leaned back against him, drawing his arms around you with a shudder and looking up at him.

"But you were already cute," he insisted, smiling down at you. You shrugged, and he couldn't tell if you had understood or were indicating you didn't, so he shrugged and settled for squeezing you gently.

You sputtered and slipped from his arms, perfectly aware that you had put yourself in that situation. Regardless, you were still feeling a little shy after confessing your feelings. You'd known him, what, a few weeks? And you were confessing in his bedroom, and reciting love poems in yours, like some lovestruck kit.

Is it just because he's the only one here? Or because he's the first one in a long time? It wasn't fair to him, if your infatuation was only shallow need for affection, but that night, you had needed someone. You had been so lost in memories, and he had been there, calm understanding even though you couldn't quite understand the connection between you two, you had to believe he was here for a reason.

**_"Come over here, lover,"_** you purred, pulling him gently towards the break in the garden where a simple wrought-iron bench was waiting. Maybe he didn't understand the context of the poem you had recited, but he could surely feel the Intent behind the words. You wanted to bask in this time with him before the Fates decided to pull the rug out from underneath you.

The two of you sat together on the bench, and he chattered away about something or other--you loved listening to him, even if you couldn't understand him. He seemed to get that a story is always welcome, even if you don't comprehend a single word.

His arm around your shoulders, the false sun warm on your face...it was all too easy to drift off, pressing closer. You were getting used to his touch, so good, so nice, so comforting. Thoughts of the past were hazy and soon all you could feel was the steady pulse of his soul beneath your ear. It was a brilliant blue, like the ocean, and calming to listen to. It's been so long since you looked at your own soul, was it even the same color anymore? Was it dull and blank, like you had been for so many years?

You felt his arm tighten around your shoulders, and only barely blinked back to reality before he stood, practically dropping you from his lap.

"PAPY!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The poem translates to:
> 
> **How desolate my former life,  
>  Those dismal years, era yet  
> I chanced to see thee face to face;  
> ‘Twere better to forget  
> Those days before we met **
> 
> It was written by the Imperial Advisor Astutada, for a lover he had been with the previous evening. Poetry we a sort of morning-after reassurance after meeting with a lover, and this one describes that his love outgrows his desire for her and makes him forget the pains of his past in favor of being with her.  
> Basically like a Shakespearean sonnet except far less poncy.
> 
> And koibito means boyfriend or lover, an affectionate term for the casual relationship. I think it's a good nickname for Blue at this point.


	8. 10 Minutes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus finally got the machine working, but not for long.

G sputtered awake as cold water splashed on his face, knee jerking as he sat up faster than he even thought he could.

“What? Who, where?” He grumbled, looking around, only to see Swap Papyrus standing there, cigarette surprisingly absent, and looking positively haunted. “Dude. Go back to sleep.”

“can’t sleep, figured it out, let’s go let’s go let’s go--” The lanky skeleton grabbed his wrist, proceeding to drag him off the couch, not even slowing down as G stumbled along behind him, from the couch to the snow on their bare feet, to the basement door and the machine waiting behind it.

Papyrus was positively manic, his grin stretched as wide as his patience was thin and looking taller than normal. Hmph. Maybe he’d offer up the nickname Stretch, it seemed to fit. But for now, Papyrus was Papyrus, and Papyrus was insane with lack of sleep and an excess of worry. G noticed at least ten more cigarette butts than had previously been in the tray when he’d gone off to sleep, and though skeletons can’t get cancer he considered Blueberry’s stance on getting him to quit.

G wasn’t even watching what he was doing, too amused by this strange version of his brother and his little idiosyncrasies. 

When deprived of sleep (or sex, but that’s a separate issue), his “Papyrus” really showed through, his words taking a turn for silly japery bordering on absurdity. He lived up to his well-earned title of “mad scientist” like this, but he also did his best work on two hours of sleep, seven smokes, and three cups of coffee. He’d probably done more work in the last hour of frantic inspiration than the two of them had done all week.

Dark circles beneath his sockets, wildly dilated eyelights as he strapped on a comical set of jeweler’s goggles, fiddling with a dial as his other hand grabbed a spare bone that G vaguely recognized as one of Blue’s “collectible attacks”. He would never understand why Blue and the classic Papyrus stored spare attacks, when their universes were the safest out of all of them.

But, in this case, it was a boon, and G understood immediately when Papyrus jammed it into the fuel tray.

“Shit,” G groaned, feeling stupid. “His magic will lead us to his magic.”

“precisely,” Papyrus chuckled, slamming the big red button and allowing G to drag him back by the collar as it clunked to life in a cloud of smoke and groaning metal. “it’s aliiiiiive!”

G rolled his eyelights, dropping his lab partner to land hard on the concrete as he stepped closer to examine the readout. It was going haywire, trying to calculate and pinpoint the matching magic, having difficulty across the dimensions. Eventually it got a read, though it bounced around--it should take them to Blue, regardless of if where he is moves or not.

He stepped back, shooting Classic and Red a quick text. He likes to keep the sciencey ones updated on miracles.

Papyrus was on his feet when he finished, looking wild and ready to bum-rush the thing.

“Hold your horses,” G sighed, making him frown. “I can keep the portal open for...10 interspacially relative minutes before you need to get your happy ass and your brother back here. So he’d better be ready to go.”

“i called and texted,” Papyrus dismissed. “he knows we’re coming, unless he hasn’t been back to his room in a while.”

G hummed, knowing enough about Blue’s semi-secret exploits to know that if there’s a pretty, lonely woman about then it’s likely Blue is wherever she is. But he’d never tell Papyrus that--for one, he’s sure deep down he already knows that, and for another, it  _ is _ time to bring him home.

“Okay. I’ll stay on this side to pull you back,” G said, pulling a hempen rope from a nearby hook and wrapping it around his waist, securing it. Then he summoned a small bone and tucked it into the pocket of Papyrus’ pajama pants. “In case you get stuck, you can build it on that end and find your way back here with my magic.”

“hey, if y’wanted your bone in my pants--”

“Stop that. Go.”

Papyrus rolled his eyelights. “you are zero fun.”

“Go.”

“yeah.” He grinned, clapping his hands. “okay. maiden voyage. gonna go see sans.”

“10 minutes,” G reminded him, and Papyrus raised his wrist to set his watch.

“10 minutes,” he echoed, pulling his jeweler’s goggles off and hanging them, grabbing a pair of regular ones and jamming them on his head, hopping lightly from foot to foot in preparation. “uncharted void-territory. crazy interdimensional mansion with a sweet-talking fox lady and--i seriously only have 10 minutes to get him to come back with me?”

“10 minutes,” G confirmed.

Papyrus shrugged. “welp. here’s goes nothing, then.”

* * *

"PAPY!”

Papyrus stumbled on the grass beneath his feet, caught off guard by the sunshine and gentle breeze. One moment he’d been talking to G, preparing to jump through, and the next…

The rope around his waist reminded him of the portal behind him, and the ticking of his watch reminded him he only had...9 minutes left.

He stumbled once more as his brother tackled him outright, arms around his ribs and smelling so totally different than when he’d left that it threw him off for a moment.

“sans,” he sighed, pulling him in to hug him tight, collapsing to the grass in utter exhaustion. His whole body was ready to relax, yep, that’s him done, did what he had to do, now--

Oh, no, only 7 and a half minutes.

“YOU LOOK LIKE YOU HAVEN’T SLEPT IN A WEEK,” Blue tutted, pushing Papyrus’ goggles up to glare at his darkened sockets.

“probably accurate,” he said. “listen, sans, we only have seven minutes to get back home before the machine goes kaput, so come on.”

“WAIT!” Blue stopped his hand from tugging on the rope, and gestured behind him.

And Papyrus remembered his brother wasn’t here alone. You were standing a few feet away, appraising him, and hell, if you weren’t cuter than he had imagined, curious and cautious, standing in the garden with feet bare and emotions plain as day on your face.

He scrambled to his feet, suddenly all-too-aware of his well-worn cookie monster pajama pants.

**_“hey, uh, hi.”_ **

Hmph. Intelligent. But you brightened at his use of Japanese.

**_“Papyrus,”_ ** you sighed, a little relieved, but...also a hint of disappointment?  **_“I did not expect you or I would have made tea.”_ **

“PAPY! TELL HER TO COME WITH US!” Blue pleaded, his eyelights round and full of hope.

**_“we uh, can’t stay. but, you should come with us! we have six-ish minutes, you can grab some things and we’ll be off. we’ll take care of you.”_ ** He offered his hand, and…

...and there was a great sadness in your eyes, and he realized immediately you weren’t going to take it.

Blue realized it, too, and, thinking you were only opposed to touching someone new, held his hand out, too, only causing you more visible dismay.

**_“you aren’t coming.”_ ** Papyrus said quietly, a statement of fact, and not a question.

You shook your head slowly.  **_“I cannot. This is where I belong, I cannot set foot outside this dimension. I'm not sure what would happen to me, but it isn't allowed.”_ **

**_“you know he won’t leave without you.”_ **

You smiled, stepping forward and taking Blue’s hands gently. " **_Yes. He will.”_ **

“ARE YOU COMING? IS SHE COMING?” Blue asked, his hands tightening around yours and stars in his eyelights, so much brighter than ever, and Papyrus’ heart sank.

“i, uh…” Blue didn’t even look up at him, transfixed by you, and damn, Papyrus could understand--there was something ethereal and regal about you, and he wished, he  _ wished _ he had more time. He had so much he wanted to ask you, to talk to you about.

But his watch was beeping. Only two minutes.

You pulled Blue in for a hug, and he happily hugged you back, his face a picture of pure joy and excitement.

**_“Be good, lover. Be happy,”_ ** you muttered softly, a fluttering kiss placed on his mandible and his eyelights were hearts for a moment.

Then you slid his phone from his pocket into yours, and shoved him roughly into Papyrus’ arms. Blue made a startled noise as he was caught securely around the shoulders, and Papyrus tugged sharply on the rope before wrapping both arms tightly around Blue, who seemed to realize what was happening.

“No! Wait--!”

The sharp tug of the rope made Papyrus lurch backwards--

And suddenly, you were alone in the garden.

And the clouds rolled in. And it was cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Japanese lessons here, but I'm having fun with somewhat Mad Scientist Stretch when he's tired. I've always loved KeelyWolfe's interpretation of Stretch's character so here I've emulated it a bit.


	9. Ache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's two different kinds of non-violence-related ache, and the Swap brothers are currently experiencing both of them.

It was a dull, gray day in Underswap, but then again, Blue was likely to say that any day was dull and gray if he was being honest.

In truth, it wasn't as bad as it could be. You'd pocketed his phone before he'd left and after he'd shouted and cried and let his brother cuddle the pain in his chest to a dull ache, Papyrus had been sure to walk you through the use of the device from his phone. Blue'd received a handful of text messages in the weeks he'd been gone, but it wasn't the same as being there with you. He still couldn't read or speak Japanese very well and you still couldn't read or speak English very well, and it led to bugging Papyrus or Undyne to translate more often than he liked. He wished he could rapid-fire text and talk with you, like he knows his brother probably does when he isn't looking.

But he’s just not good enough at Japanese, and the drop after leaving you continued to get worse. He was good at smiling and pretending everything is okay, but he’d grown very attached to you in those two short weeks.

He'd been so angry and hurt when you'd pushed him away to tumble through the machine, but according to Papyrus you weren't  _ allowed _ to leave. Something bad would happen if you did. He supposed it explained why you were there all on your own, but it didn’t make it any easier.

One thing was, with the machine fixed, Blue was able to bury himself in extra work, using his universe's abundance of supplies to care for his counterparts in their worlds. With G and Papyrus' new breakthrough, they were able to go between easily, exchanging the parts some worlds needed with those others needed, and now they had met a few more Sanses and Papyri! He had offered their world to be the meeting place to give himself something to do, throwing a large dinner party.

Papyrus had let G pick his nickname for him out of sheer laziness, and now Blue was stuck with calling him Stretch, like some informant from a film noir. But he would secretly always be Papyrus to him.

The introductions went fairly well, since G had been through and made sure nicknames were done. Some of them Pap--er, some of them _ Stretch _ had met before, some of them Blue had as well. Boss and Red from the universe dubbed "Fell" had been stuck in their world for a solid week once, and that had been interesting, but sending them back had been what busted the machine before they could meet anyone else.

But Stretch had also already met the apparently-original Sans, as well as a lanky, punk rock Papyrus dubbed "Mutt" that looked like if Stretch and Boss had a child. That one brought with him another version of Blue that was decidedly more sour, that jokingly ended up dubbed BlackBerry, much to his dismay. He had managed to help his edgier self argue it down to just "Black" like his had been shortened, but the scowl remained on his double's face the rest of the night regardless.

Most of his counterparts he'd gotten to know somewhat or got along with immediately.

The only one that Blue was unsure about, in the end, was Papyrus. The apparently-original Papyrus, not his brother.

But that was a story to ruminate on another time. Right now he was busying himself with arranging the pantry, and it was taking all his energy. He had the idea to start a "to share" pile, under the guise of letting everyone try whatever strange things exist in one 'verse but not the next--his true motive, though, was to make sure all his counterparts were provided for when they went back home. He kept no stock and asked no questions. He didn't outright offer, either, and he accepted whatever they gave--he just made it clear that this was for everyone and they should take what they please.

So far the response had been lacklustre in verbiage, but the pantry had been properly parsed last time. This time, he even made sure there was extra so that their new guests could take it home to feed their people--apparently, in their timeline, there was a famine, and Blue just couldn't let something like that go. If his brother hadn't been so worried about him disappearing into the void again he would simply strut through the machine and distribute it himself.

And the task was...enough. Just enough. He was able to focus on it and forget about the ache in his chest for a moment, forget about your pained look as he disappeared through the portal, forget about all the many, many plans he'd made to show you more about the modern world. He gripped the bag of rice in his hands, taking a deep breath and trying to keep calm.

It wasn't as if he would for sure  _ never _ see you again. Stretch had promised that he would find a way to make travel to your mansion possible, he would just have to be patient.

He pulled his phone out, the new one he'd just gotten, and opened his conversation with you. You were terrible at texting and the translator was even worse, and he had given up on it fairly quickly, but not before sending you a brief message translated by his brother for accuracy.

 

_ I'LL SEE YOU AGAIN. I PROMISE. _

 

And he had received the only picture he had of you, blurry and poorly framed, but decorated with glittery hiragana that, according to his brother, read:

 

**_Where would I dare go without you?_ **

 

And that alone was enough to make him smile even if it also made him ache. Only a handful of weeks with you and it hurt so much already to be away.

"hey, she's pretty cute, eh?"

Blue squeaked and held his phone to his chest, jumping and turning to see Red crouched behind him, looking over his shoulder at his phone, a sharp-toothed grin spread wide and showing off his gold fang.

"DIDN'T ANYBODY EVER TEACH YOU IT'S RUDE TO LOOK OVER SOMEONE'S SHOULDER LIKE THAT?" He huffed, and Red seemed genuinely surprised by his reaction.

"oh? what happened to the cordial 'my house is your house' angelface? no chattering about everything? no pretentious fake smile?"

"MY SMILE IS…" He can't say never. That's a lie. "MY SMILE IS NOT PRETENTIOUS!"

"oh, but it  _ is _ fake, then?" Red needles with a laugh. "c'mon, show me that crazy catgirl porn yer lookin' at, i wanna see what the innocent little blueberry likes."

"IT ISN'T PORN!" Blue growled, tucking his phone into his bandana. "I'D APPRECIATE IF YOU DIDN'T TALK ABOUT MY PRIVATE LIFE AS IF IT WERE SOME CIRCUS TO WATCH."

"not porn? y'mean t'tell me yer lookin' at a girl with kitty ears and that look in her eyes, and y'haven't seen her tits?"

Blue felt his face flush a bit as he sighed in annoyance. "IS THERE SOMETHING I CAN DO FOR YOU? YOU'RE EARLY, DID YOU NEED TO LOOK THROUGH THE PANTRY BEFORE THE OTHERS COME?"

"yeah, wanted t'surprise boss with some cinnamon rolls. ain't had 'em homemade since before...well, we was little. but, uh, cinnamon's hard t'come by in the 'fell-verse."

"WELL I'M SURE I HAVE SOME I CAN ADD TO YOUR BAG."

"nah, jus' hand it here. no point in a surprise if he sees the secret ingredient when puttin' it away like the control freak he is."

"TRUE." Blue handed him a shaker of ground cinnamon and he blipped it away into his inventory. Red looked satisfied, as if about to leave him alone to finish his work…

...but he stopped.

"hey, uh...you okay?"

Blue blinked, confused by the sudden concern. "HUH? WHA...OH! YEAH, I'M FINE!"

Red gave him a knowing look. "hmph. keep yer secrets, then, i guess. but y'must be extra fucked up, because i don't think that smile is foolin' even yer brother."

Blue let his smile falter just a bit, hand hovering over his chest, where his phone and his soul both rested beneath his clothes. "YEAH. PROBABLY NOT. BUT IT'S BETTER THAN FEELING SORRY FOR MYSELF."

Red chuckled, turning to finally leave the pantry. "guess so."

Blue returned to his task, but his smile was fully gone now. His hands felt heavy as he finished arranging the pantry.

* * *

Stretch had never felt particularly attached to his birth name. His father had always called him and Blue ridiculous pet names, ones much too embarrassing to use as his multiverse nickname.

The only time he felt like it was really his name was when it was moaned in ecstasy, or shortened sweetly to "Papy" (by Blue) or "Rus" (by most other friends in Underswap).

But for some reason, he liked hearing you say it. Every conversation he had with you left him a little more flustered than the last, especially the way your accent curled around his name like sweet smoke. "Papi-rus". Or, and be still his nonexistent heart, stars forbid you shortened it to "Papi".

He recognized he had a problem. Well, he had a lot of problems, really, when wasn't he in some sort of a crisis? But the main problem, of course, was you.

Where to begin? You live in an impossible to find dimension and he understands you on a level his brother doesn't due to shared language, but anyone short of the totally blind could see that you and Blue had something special going already. For fuck's sake, you call Blue "Lover", it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.

It's fucked up for him to fall for you a little more each time you text him with a misunderstood meme. It's wrong for him to have so much enjoyment in talking to you when his brother can't even enjoy the same and spends his days plastering on a smile.

He feels wrong, but that isn't entirely new. He's defiled less cute mental images during his flare-ups before, and jerking it to the idea of you was sort of inevitable, like, he's polished his bone to a particularly good orange juice commercial before, and he's found himself turned on by a life-sized cardboard cutout of the My Pillow guy so of course a pretty lady with a voice like silk would be in the spank bank.

Thing is, he can’t be sure if it’s really a crush, or if it’s just him.

His hypersexuality has often led him to strange crushes and his share of heartbreak, unable to discern between sexual attraction and emotional connection. It’s taken him all the way until last summer, his first on the surface, to recognize his disorder and its connection to his depression and anxiety, and now that he’s medicated, he’s generally quite happy. Sure, his usual hookups seemed pretty sad the pussy shop closed up, but he doesn’t need to spread his legs all over town to feel somewhat normal anymore. And in the end, everyone kept complimenting him on how much better he was doing, attributing it to the sun or the surface or whatever they thought it was.

But even medicated it made this situation that much more difficult to navigate. He can’t come out to Blue with his feelings with any sort of explanation, and even if he could it would only crush him--unless he also assumed it was likely just his disorder talking, which could prove bad for the both of them down the line.

**_“Papi?”_ **

Ah, there’s that pleasant shudder down his spine. It sounds...so nice when you say it.

_ “i’m here.” _

**_“Ah. You were very quiet. I have managed to find the things you recommended, around the mansion.”_ **

_ “good. good. bring it to the garden where blue and i landed, and maybe we can get this thing going?” _

**_“...I certainly hope so,”_ ** you said softly, sighing on the other end of the line. He felt his chest ache at the sheer misery in your tone.

_ “we’ll figure it out, okay, missy?” _ He reassured you.

**_“I trust you to take care of everything, Papi.”_ **

Oh, just smash him over the head with a big, horny 2x4 why don’t you? Yeah, he’ll take care of everything, alright--

Ah, shit, his tea is cold on the workbench, which means he hasn’t taken his meds. He stared at it for a long moment, understanding and guilt building in his non-existent gut. He still doesn’t know if it’s you or him, even as he politely says goodbye and sets his phone down to drink his tea--all-too-late, unfortunately, for he’s already formed and aching between his legs.

He leans his head against the cool metal of the machine with a sigh. At least Boss and Red already came through--they’re the only ones that ever come through early, several hours usually, which means he doesn’t have to worry about the thing banging to life and spitting anyone else out to see him in all his glory.

He should probably just take care of this distraction so he can get back to work on the machine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you have already read about Stretch's disorder on my Menagerie blog, and yes, there will be an umbrella incicent later in the story mweheheheh
> 
> There's info on my stance on font/pap/sans-chest on my Twitter, and I bring it up because I want to add f/p/s-cest to this fic (hear me out) because it's a huge poly relationship on my blog.  
> Would it stop you from reading if i tagged properly (tagged each chapter individually with warnings)?  
> I could also allude to it (romantic things and lewd jokes, PG 13 at best), but put explicit elsewhere? It's likely I wouldn't include explicit anyhow, unless it also involves Reader.  
> I have a [Vote going on my Twitter](https://twitter.com/MsMKcreates/status/1136004992161050624?s=19) for it, or you can give your opinion in the comments

**Author's Note:**

> Be sure to follow me for more updates and shenanigans!  
> [Menagerie ask blog](https://mks-magical-menagerie.tumblr.com/)  
> [Main blog](https://msmkcreates.tumblr.com/)  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/MsMKcreates)  
> [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/MsMK)
> 
> Fanart:  
> [ Cedric the Void-Pup!](https://mks-magical-menagerie.tumblr.com/post/180320614684/lost-immortality-says-i-for-one-love-cedric)


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